Atlas B&M S-2

New power has arrived on the White River Division. It currently appears to look like "as delivered" and that is OK  for now...wait till modelling season begins this fall...it surely will get dirty-ed up a bit.

 My new Atlas S-2 arrived a few weeks ago via Don Janes during a summer visit. He had ordered two...one for each of us for a nice price....and by the way this engine sounds as good as it looks and runs smooth as all Atlas engines do. I think these new Atlas engines are worth every nickel one pays....no matter the price...have a happy Labour Day weekend....George Dutka

Freight House - More Photos

A track side view of Don`s new freight house.

I had a few more views by Don Janes of the two freight houses...thought you might like to see them....George Dutka

This view gives you a look at the difference in stains which would be found as a structure like this weathers. Niel Schofield did a great job building this model.

Don`s model of the Bellows Falls freight house sure looks likes the real thing although it has been reduced a bit to fit the layout better.

A Switch of Freight House

Don`s Bellows Falls, Vermont freight house on his old Green Mountain Division. He did not find a new location for it during a rebuild of the layout and now the White River Division has a new structure for the upcoming Bellows Falls scene.

photos by Don Janes

Don Janes is currently in the process of figuring out which structures he will be reusing on his Green Mountain Division. He does has a very nice collection of buildings that came off the layout during tear down. I had mentioned to him numerous times that if the Bellows Falls freight house does not fit the new layout it would on mine....I am modeling Bellows Falls. Back in July Don made the final decision that the freight house was not going to work and lucky me he offered it for sale. He had been talking with Neil Schofield about his freight house which he was willing to sell. Don purchased Niel`s freight  house, I purchased Don`s and we all are now happy....check out the photos of the great looking models....George Dutka

Don has set his new freight house at the location it will eventually reside on the Green Mountain Division. This is a very nice model that Neil Schofield built.

The rear side of Don`s new freight house.

I took this photo of my new freight house on the work bench last month.  For now it will sit on a shelf till the bench work is completed on my addition to the WRD later this fall.

Wordless Wednesday No. 91

Snapshot - August 2014

This is what one saw during the LPGA tournament hosted by CP if you went down to the CPR Quebec St. Yard. I took this shot holding my camera high over my head standing on my tip toes over top the fence...I must have looked like a fool.  It took me three tries to get this photo. The better angles for photos were in areas one could not go.

This past week the CP Women's Open LPGA tournament was happening here in London, Ont. at the London Hunt & Country Club. CP president Hunter Harrison is the host  behind this event. The last time it was held here at the Hunt Club, Hunter was president of the CNR with CNR the host. Anyhow they spent the last few months totally redoing the entrance to CP London yard and preparing a place for Hunters train. You note all the flower pots, pavement, lighting, green grass and so on...not things you normally find in a rail yard. All the signs are also new. The vintage units seen here are in pristine condition and the coaches also are in great shape. Unfortunately the public are not allowed on the property or near the equipment as security is at the entrance gate and most photos are taken from the gate or over top  the fence if you can lift your camera that high.....George Dutka

The last car on the train is ex-CNR. It was once the Sanford Fleming. My father in law once road on it for a week while on a inspection tour of CN's west coasts routes.

It would have been nice to get an up close look at these engines as they are in great shape. Last time I was down in this area all there was were tall weeds, old ties, rails and other yard junk. It now looks better than many of the parks found around town. Sure makes a difference when the company president spends a week here on his train.

Modelling an Abandoned Track

The WRD section crew are hard at work removing an abandoned siding.

One really does not needs all the tracks to be operative on a layout. We sometimes need just little bits of trackage to make a scene look right. I have done this last winter in numerous locations. On the WRD during last winters rebuilt a main line switch along with most of the main line track and roadbed was removed. I did leave about a foot of the roadbed near the old switch location in place as it would have been more work then it was worth to remove. I instead decided to relay a bit of the track and display it as an abandoned siding. I did have some track workers, rail bars, switch stand and tools that could be placed around the work site...I think it worked out well....George Dutka

I just used  leftover pieces of flex track, pulling some of the rails off and chalk weathering them all. I then glued them back at random angles next to the ties. The worker will do the rest.

An overhead view of this small scene. It took me two extra short evenings to finish this scene. One to lay the flex track and all the ballast and ground foam. A second to add the details and figures...total time was less than two hours.

The switch stand was the one used at the switch. Tools and barrels finish off the scene. I still need to find a frog to add near the main line.

The worker are Woodland Scenic models.

The WRD Track Gang

Is that the White River Division track gang at work again. Check back later and see what they are up to...George Dutka

Blog Update - Modeling Steam Era Freight Cars

Marty McGuirk began a blog called  Modeling Steam Era Freight Cars a couple of years ago. The blog started with a few posts then sat dormant for a very long time. Marty is trying to get it going once again with multiple authors contributing to the blog. I think he has it off and running now by the looks of it...check it out at the link below...George Dutka

Modeling Steam Era Freight Cars

Wordless Wednesday No. 90

CV Milk Train on the White RIver Division

I took this photo a couple of years ago before dismantling my causeway scene. A CV RS-3 is on the lead...which is a AHM model I detailed in the early 1980's that got a total overhaul a few years back and now is a DCC equipped engine...don't try this rebuild as I am not sure it is worth the effort...it was the first detailed engine I built for the CV way back then and I still wanted to keep and run it. The milk train this day is handling a mix of 5 milk cars. The B&M car second up is brass, there are two CV milk cars, a Whiting 40' and another that I don't remember its origin. The milk cars are a mix of RTR models I have added extra details to and kit built models. My CV caboose is a brass model that I repainted and lettered a couple of decades ago. I always add a conductor or brakeman to the platform of each caboose added to the fleet. This day the conductor is actually part of a Canadian crew from Juneco Models....George Dutka

White River Junction Poster

One of the many poster displays found at the layout of the Vermont and Essex Ry....George Dutka

Nairn Sign - Update

I got an e-mail from Bill Gill awhile back and thought I would share his comments with you. "Back on June 30th you posted a photo of an old billboard you were interested in using as an inspiration for an old sign. That billboard isn't actually all that old. The lettering font was designed in the early to mid 1950s, so that particular billboard would be brand new for your time period. So use the weathering for inspiration, but not the fonts."  That is good advice...I was not sure how far back that font's heritage was...now I do.

Bill continues with "I like old hand painted signs and did a workshop at Collinsville called Letterbashing which was an update of an article I had in RMC back in October 2010. It describes various ways to take computer fonts and make them look a lot more like hand painted lettering made for their particular time & place. The results can be quite noticeable or very subtle, but straight type fonts almost never look like hand lettered signs." You might want to check out RMC...George Dutka

Here's one of Bill's example from his Collinsville clinic:

A common computer font, no modifications

Letterbashed version of same sign.

Wordless Wednesday No. 89

Sawmill Detailing

An overhead view of the detailed Woodland Scenics sawmill. The workers are actually fire jumpers offered by Woodland Scenics that I picked up for a buck at a local flea market...they look good if I face them out so one can not see the backpacks.

Since I posted my Woodland Scenic sawmill I got motivated and decided to add a few details to the scene which took less than one hour to complete. I just took some details out of other scenes that are to be changed next winter. A simple update that happened while waiting for my wife to get ready for an outing...thought you might want a peek....George Dutka

I added a shovel some extra blades, a pail, cans, skid and garbage can. Most of the details are Juneco model parts.

The hobo decided to move away from all that racket and now has a perch on a rock behind the trees.

Seems they now have more lumber to cut and the finished pile is growing.

Bellows Falls Station - Model

Bellows Falls station as it looked in 2010 on the Vermont and Essex Ry. The scene was coming together well on my visit.

Back in 2010 I visited the Vermont and Essex Ry. in Montreal, which was part of the CVRHS convention. I took a couple of photos viewing their Bellows Falls scene as I was planning my own version. Here are a couple photos of their station...which someday I will need to build....George Dutka

I already have a good copy of the frt. house to use on my layout. Many years ago Don Janes built a reduced version of this frt. house for his old layout which now does not have a home on the new layout...he knew I needed such a structure and it now has a new home on the White River Division.

Just Back

B&M power on the shop track in Westboro on the White River Division.

Guess you have not seen a post in over a week...Well I just got home from helping a friend moving his sailboat from Killarney, Ont. back to Bayfield. It was one of those unexpected calls..."need some help moving boat, wife must head home for family issues"...so off I went in his car on a six hour drive to get to the north country (through Muskoka) at the start of a long weekend. Seven days later I am back home. Hope to get some posts ready over the next few days....George Dutka

West Springfield - Old Truck Spotted

Back in May Don and I spent sometime looking around the Springfield yard...at least in the area`s we could access without trespassing. Found at the east end of the yard and on the north side there is a trucking lot which had a neat looking truck...which I presume they plan to restore....George Dutka

An interesting looking vehicle.

Found next the the West Springfield yard on the north side of the tracks.

Some of the trucks history can be found on the door.

Rural Sawmill - Woodland Scenics

My partly detailed mini sawmill scene is seen in the foreground of the White River Division.

Woodland Scenics at one time offered a rural open air sawmill which I purchased intending to use it on my HOn30" narrow gauge layout. I built this model about 15 years ago (or maybe more) it just was set aside till it finally found itself located on my White River Division a few years back. With my layout rebuilding last winter it did move to a new location but still as a foreground detail. I really like the looks of this tiny piece of machinery. One can do a lot to alter the look of such a scene. Maybe add a structure above. Currently I don't see this neat metal kit offered on the Woodland Scenics web site but it appears Walthers does still carry it. I am sure one can track this sawmill down in numerous hobby shops if wanted. I still have some heavy logs, finished lumber and workers to add to this scene...but the flavour of it is coming together well already. I will keep you posted as the scene unfolds....George Dutka

My sawmill is seen with a small pile of coal, some sawdust and cutting laying on the ground. A few small logs are waiting cutting. I plan to add a few larger logs to the pile plus a nice stack of finished lumber. A few workers are also needed. The only guy hanging around at the moment does not seem to be much help at all....guess that why there is not much lumber cut. I also want to add a part cut log on the slider.

This is kind of an overhead view of the scene as it is coming together. I probably will lean a shovel on the boiler, and some more pails, cutting tools and a second saw blade...don't want the crew standing around waiting for a blade to get sharpened.