1983 Meet on the White River Division

CN 9656 is an out-of-the-box Atlas model while the VIA train is handled by Model Power units detailed by Peter Mumby.

Staging a Meet on the White River Division - Circa March 1983
Words by Peter Mumby...........Photos by George Dutka.

As a follow-up to the recent post on the CN at Princeton, we thought it might be fun to stage a meet of similar equipment on the WRD.  When we showed you a train of woodchip cars a few months ago we used a model of CN GP40-2W 9526 which had been built over 30 years ago using models, parts, and techniques available at that time.  In the last couple of years both Atlas and Athearn Genesis have produced highly detailed models of these Canadian-built units.  For the photos accompanying this post we have used one of the Atlas models.  The Via FPA-4 units presented in these photos illustrate some of the history of the hobby, being based on an early Model Power product.  This was a model based on a hybrid of Alco FA1 and FB2 characteristics, so the Via units I built at that time were merely stand-ins at best.  However, the wait for a proper CN/Via MLW FPA-4 is almost over - the release of the promised Rapido model is imminent!

We had some fun staging these engines that I would have never expected to see running on the WRD.

Via 6772 has the removable ditch lights.  To be perfectly faithful to the 1983 era, neither Via unit would have had the ditch lights at all.  These accessories would have been added shortly after this time frame.  The locomotives themselves lasted about until 1990.

In this 1983 photo Peter Mumby at Princeton, Ont. VIA had yet to begin the use of ditch lights.

Via 6783 has the permanently-mounted style of ditch lights.