Wordless Wednesday No. 88

West Springfield Tank

Kind of a neat tower with some nice weathering that one could try.

While railfanning this spring in West Springfield, Ma. Don and I came across an old raised tank that I thought would look great as a model...here it is...George Dutka

An overall view of the industry that the tank belongs to...believe it is closed down.

A closer up view...sorry about the angle...took it looking towards the sun...but shows some detail.

Second Look - Westboro Sand House

Still had a few photos of my sand house before  it was installed on the layout...enjoy...George Dutka

Westboro Sand House - Prototype Photos

An overall view of the sand house at Westboro as it looked during my Oct. 15, 2011 visit.

Here are a group of photos I took during two visits to Westboro. I added clipping of two older prototype views that show some colour and details during the 1960's...George Dutka

Oct. 15, 2011

Oct. 15, 2011

Oct. 15, 2011

Oct 3, 2010

Wordless Wednesday No. 87

Phone Box

 

One of details I added some years ago was a reduced size version of a Rutland phone box...or at least my version of one. It is located in my original layout room...will cover that layout at some point. The phone box still remains today but my old rotary dial phone has since been removed. Today I store my CD's in there which are also becoming a thing of the past. My old CN Gimili jacket rests on the chair below along with my old work grip which still has all my work gear in...I set it there when I retired and never got back to it...the current timetable I guess is now 5 years old...guess I should clean it out at some point...hope I don't have any lunch left in there....anyhow I like see it there when I pass by knowing I don't have to head out the door with it in the middle of the night...and the crew dispatcher can't get a hold of me since I removed the phone from the box...life is great...George Dutka

The Valley Local - Chris Adams

About a week or so ago Trevor Marshall's posting mentioned a blog that caught my attention.  It is a nice blog which follows the construction of a good size layout being built based on the New Haven Railroad. Chris Adams is blogging about his railroad regularly at the link below. It also can now be found on my sidebar....check it out....I actually did see some of Chris's fine modeling at Collinsville first hand but our paths did not cross...check out my photo of his NH boxcars in my post, Some Displays at Collinsville 2014, June 5, 2014...George Dutka

The Valley Local 

Westboro sand house - RailroadKITS Model



RailroadKITS Westboro sand house is ready for installation on the WRD.

 I began this model back last summer...finishing it during the fall of 2013. I originally displayed it in my "Whats in the box No. 2" last July. You may have had a peek at it in various photos I have posted, I guess it is about time I tell you how it went together.

I did substitute some material to built a more sturdier model. The roofing scribed wood was changed out with styrene. I also made a Gatorfoam and part balsa floor which added more support for the walls. I added nail holes and lifted a few board were they would be seen. I did use a lot a bracing for extra support as seen in the photos. I stained the inside and out with Hunterline weather mix stain. I pre-stained the outside bracing then using my chopper to cut all my pieces to size. The roof was painted Floquil Brunswick Green (black) prior to applying Minuteman Scale Models black tar paper roofing. The kit comes with paper roofing.

The basic walls are glued and kept square. The tower is also assembled with extra bracing placed inside.

One can see the extra bracing added inside the main structure. I had some leftover balsa which I used near the floor. Styrene was used for the roofing and Gatorfoam became the side bin flooring.

I used my chopper to cut all the shed bracing.

The bolts are painted Floquil rust then glued on. The windows and doors are painted Floquil grime then darkened with Bragdon powders. All the structure walls that are not braced got a coat of Floquil grime over the Hunterline stain, then powdered lightly with Bragdon powders. I used blackened brass chain I had on hand for hanging the piping which is 42 links per inch. The front railing is painted yellow as on the prototype. The smoke stacks are done rusty looking. All the castings are primed first then Bragdon powder weathered. My hatches are styrene with wood trim. The window glazing got a coat of flat finish before adding to the structure.
The ground cover used on the drop in base are those I picked up in Westboro including the cinders....George Dutka

The walls got a coating of Hunterline weathering mix followed by a wash of Floquil grime. I then dirtied it up with Bragdon powders.

The model is finished and ready to be applied to a new Gatorfoam base.

The chimney is test fit once the roof was cut to allow a good fit. I painted the chimney Floquil Tuscan red followed by some white chalk and Bragdon powders.

The wall bracing took some time to add. The model is now on the drop in base. The kit came with some nice looking sand which was applied were one would find it around the structure. The other ground cover is cinders and dirt found on site of the prototype Westboro sand house.

Westboro Sand House - Tomorrow

One of the sand house workers which is a Juneco Models figure is hard at it. The railing is pained yellow as on the prototype. The cinders and dirt seen near the rear of the structure are prototype ground cover I picked up on site at Westboro, NH.

If all works out and I get the text and photos in order one will finally get a good look at my Westboro sand house tomorrow. This is a neat RailroadKITS product....see you then...George Dutka

Sign of the times

 

Fun times....during one of the clinics at Collinsville this year this view was seen on the screen...thought I would share it with you....George Dutka

Wordless Wednesday No. 86

1947 Chev Pickup

Last weekend while in Goderich, Ont. visiting the weekly farmers market in the square, I came across a mint 1947 Chev pickup...thought I share it with you....George Dutka

Green Mountain Division Update

The top photo above shows the ugly hole in the wall where the tracks enter the new layout room.  Below a CP caboose hop pops out from under the highway overpass as the caboose of a passing B&M freight train is just about to duck under the bridge.

Hiding a Hole in the Wall .....by Don Janes

     After spending most of the winter working on the track and turnouts at Wells River I thought I'd go back and do something about the hole in the wall leading from the older section of the layout to the new room.  Originally I had planned on a tunnel but in reality the only tunnel on the line was under the town of Bellows Falls.  After deciding a tunnel wouldn't do the trick I decided to disguise the hole with a highway overpass. These are all over the place and don't require a huge mountain that a tunnel would need to make it look believable.  And besides, I had this overpass, a RIX concrete bridge and pier and abutments made from wooden blocks left over from my old layout and this would save lots of time not having to build something new.  Once I decided the overall layout of the bridge and highway I boxed in the tracks with 1/2" plywood where they went through the wall.  To help disguise this "tunnel" I painted the boxed area flat black to make it disappear, similar to theatre set design.  Fortunately I remembered to add ballast and ground cover in the tunnel area before boxing it in.

This view of the "tunnel" shows how painting the interior flat black really  makes the box disappear

     After the box and abutments were in place I made the road out of 1/8" masonite and supported it by placing wooden blocks under the road at different heights to set the elevation for the road and surrounding landscape.  A web of cardboard strips was added to support the plaster cloth that would form the overall landscape.  Once the plaster cloth was applied I used Sculptamold, a paper mache type material,
to finish any ground contours and fill in around the abutments.

This overall scene shows the hills around the overpass and how the fascia is cut to follow the contour of the scenery

    Once I was satisfied with the overall look of the scene I painted the plaster with earth coloured latex paint and while still wet sprinkled ordinary sand over the entire area to give it a good scenery base and add some "tooth" for the finished scenery to stick to.  Just to give me an idea how the finished scene would look I added a little green ground foam herre and there for colour but the rest of the scenery won't be added until I add some more landscape so it wall all flow together.
     When I get a little more of the surrounding scenery finished I will go back and add a paved highway using sheet styrene and add more ground cover and trees to the area to bring it to life.

Here are a few more shots of the area with trains passing through to give a general sense of scale to the scene.  I think the section shanty adds realism to the scene since they were a very common element in my modelling period.

Building molds - Collinsville 2014

One of the clinics I attended at Collinsville was Resin Casting by Ron Poidomani. Ron is new to casting but very motivated to learn, improve and share his knowledge. I am not one to cast...I normally just buy what I need. One interesting product Ron showed us that I think many of us could use on occasion is Micro-Mark silicone mold putty. What you do is take some putty from both tubs mix it together in your hands using gloves, then just press it over the object you want to duplicate. I think Ron used a wheel. It looked so easy to do...I like easy. The mold was set and dry before the clinic was over and a pour could be made. One can make many small parts from one order of this product. It does have a use by date which had already expired on Ron's jars which did not appear to cause any problems. I can see this being great to reproduce a broken detail that is unavailable....George Dutka

A cool two part mold maker that can work well for small part duplications.

Ron showed us a good group of details and vehicles he has made using various casting methods and materials.

F&C Kits at Collinsville, Ct.

At Collinsville I picked up two of the newer F&C kits. One is a New Haven 40' one piece gondola with drop doors. The second was a Reading once piece steel automobile double door car.

My view of rolling stock kits since I retired 5 years ago is that I do not buy any more kits till the last group I purchased are built....that's not counting the trunk load I purchased over the last 20 years that probably will never get built. This past winter I finished the last of the F&C kits I purchased in Springfield back in 2010...so it is time to pick up a few more. While at Collinsville, F&C had a buy one get one free special which was a good way to pick-up two of  F&C's newer offerings....the photos tell the story. Now to get them built before Springfield next January if I plan to buy more kits....I have my eye on the F&C Reading 36' wooden boxcar converted to a cocoa bean hopper and their New Haven 36' rebuilt boxcar....George Dutka

The NH one piece gondola seen with the interior drop door insert. If one looks closely the drop doors are molded into the cars bottom...I thought it was kind of a neat looking kit.

This Reading double door auto boxcars were flying off the F&C table...another newer offering.

Wordless Wednesday No. 85

   VTR

More New Motive Power?

Recently I got a message for Don Janes...I am getting a great deal on the new Atlas DCC & sound B&M S-2's do you want in...sure do...I saw these engines at Collinsville and they run and sound great. The engine detailing is far superior to those on the old units I have from years ago. It appears the White River Division and Green Mountain Route will now be able to get more yard switching done (if not at least the yard will sound better) with some new yard power added to the roster. Actually if you follow the B&M Yahoo group Don is clearing out (for sale) three B&M engines to make room for the new acquisition...check them out....George Dutka

Snapshot - July 2014

B&H train is departing Cohocton for Painted Post, NY. during the fall of 2012.

This months snapshot is a group of photos I took that kind of document a visit by Don and I to two of the three railroads under the umbrella of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Ry. The interesting part about the three railroads is they operate totally with Alco's...enjoy the link below to the RR's site....they have lots of nice photo's there also...George Dutka

 Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad LAL shortline railroad freight service south of Rochester, NY

This is the system map found on the railroad's web page. One can see all three railroads are in a close proximity to each other...making railfanning not all that difficult.

 Stopping by the B&H Ry. Cohocton, NY. engine house on the way to Strasburg, Pa.....there was not much happening. We did get lucky on our way home a few days later on our second stop in town.

We had just come off the freeway in Cohocton, NY when we saw the B&H Ry. switching an industry near town.

As Don and I arrived, no. 418 was just being tied down for the day at Lakeville, NY. This line operates from Lakeville to Rochester, NY.

Livonia Avon & Lakeville shop in Lakeville, NY. during November 2013.