More ex-B&M Covered Hoppers

Ex-B&M car on a CP freight in London, Ont. April 22, 2016. Some neat weathering for a well used car.

My friend Terry sent me this photo he took of an ex-B&M covered hopper on a CP train here in London, Ont. Peter covered these hoppers being loaded in Havelock, Ont. last winter. On occasion Terry follows my blog and thought I would enjoy another view...enjoy...George Dutka

Westboro on the WRD

The engine house if full this day. These two are not going anywhere soon as revenue is down and no funds for DCC upgrades....so the future for these two is as Atlas dummies.

I was checking my batteries on my pocket camera and decided to shoot a bit of my Westboro scene which I finished last fall...George Dutka

An overall look at the newer area of Westboro.

This is one of my first B&M acquisitions made years ago, and well before the WRD existed...now it getting a long deserved rest.

Don Janes did a great job building this engine house...sure glad to have it on the WRD.

CV 8081 now has a new stack and DCC

Here we see the White River Division in the 1980's. At one point I had this engine for sale but I am glad I held on to it.

I covered details added to CV 8081 in my June 15 2015 post. Recently I added a NCE non-sound DCC decoder and a new exhaust stack, engine man and the  red safety first sign it wore at one point. I still need to find the dual headlight I purchased which will finish it off. It is nice to be able to run this switcher in my contemporary fleet even if it does not have sound...George Dutka

The Safety First sign I photocopied from a print of the actual engine. I cut it out and glued it on. It was once hung in the St. Albans shop prior to being installed on the engine. The smoke stack is a brass casting this is similar to what is on the prototype but not an exact copy...better than what the model came with. If I ever find an exact casting it will be changed out once again. After the engine was assembled I found the twin headlight detail, so the engine will be back on the workbench once again sometime this summer or fall.

Wordless Wednesday No. 182

Bellows Falls Frt. House - WRD

Now in service on the WRD.

Here is another look at the freight house set in place in my Bellows Falls, Vermont scene. I took this photo with my pocket camera from the depot platform...George Dutka

Snapshot - May 2016 CP-B&M Pooling in the 1970's

CP train 904 SB, a power and caboose pooled train with the B&M passes the frt. house at Lyndonville, Vt. on July 20, 1973. The CP caboose will be cut off at White River Jct. while the rest of the train heads towards Springfield, Mass. Bruce Nelson photo.

I ran across these two photos while roaming the NERAIL's site. Bruce Nelson posts regularly his very interesting collection of  New England B&W photos on this site. Bruce was kind enough to allow me to post these two photos here so you can see what was pooled along the Conn. River Line in the 1970's...enjoy...George Dutka

The head end of CP train 904 is a mix of CP and B&M power. From the head end one finds B&M 4266 F-7, 1567 GP-7, CP 8577 RS-18, plus two CP RS-3's. The two rear units in the consist will be set off at St. Johnsbury along with freight, most of which is for the MEC. July 20, 1973. Bruce Nelson photo

Wordless Wednesday No. 181

Central Vermont Caboose - N Scale

The lettering looks good and this model actually has the truss rods included.

Peter Mumby and I visited with Don Wesley a couple of week ago...it is one of the round robin groups Peter belongs to. Don models in N scale and he showed us one of his newer additions. To my surprise it is a CV caboose. Not sure of the make, but the paint job looks good...now for someone to make the proper cupola in N scale...George Dutka

WOD Make and Take Clinic

An overhead view of the O scale snow fence.

Today Peter Mumby and I attended our area NMRA -WOD meet in Ingersoll, Ont. It was a make and take morning project put on by Hunterline. Rick has come up with a small snow fence kit which is reportedly quick to build. The plan was to built four fences in a morning...and we did just that...thanks Rick and to the WOD...George Dutka

Another view of the O scale snow fence, a new product offered by Hunterline

Peter Mumby is hard at work putting his four snow fences together. He has the braces all assembled and is working on the fence portion.

The snow fences come in four scales, O, S. HO and N as seen here.

Peter and I built the HO scale versions similar to these on display. Rick mentioned he is considering a small stock pen for a future kit.

Changes

Bellows Falls jumps a few decades into the future for the summer months.

As the season changes so does my era. All my 1950's equipment is now put away till mid fall. For the spring and summer I have out on the layout my equipment that covers the 1960's through the 1980's era. My sailboat went in today which means I will not be home much and posts will be in summer mode. I have a lot of material to cover as time permits and Peter and Don have a few posts in the works also...have a great summer season and posts will be back to normal when the weather cools...George Dutka

I took these photos yesterday viewing the WRD as it will look for the next few months.

The CV has taken over the shop area of Westboro. The sand is routed via the PRR.

The White River Jct. yard is kind of empty these days...with the new yard in Bellows Falls using up a portion of the fleet I might have to spend a bit of time next winter assembling a few more era kits.

1960's milk service is still up and running with these two CV milk cars.

Pan Am Boxcar Trio

South Portland, Maine March 31, 2016. MEC 31865

Yesterday's Wordless Wednesday viewed a trio of Pan Am boxcars on the tail end of a train heading North in the yard at South Portland, Maine earlier this spring. Though you might want a closer look at them...George Dutka

MEC 32114

MEC 31913

Wordless Wednesday No. 180

Fill'er Up

Here is another S scale scene I really liked which views a lot of details and vehicles around the gas pumps. I took this photo also at this years Copetown show...George Dutka

Service Station - Bellows Falls, Vermont

Bellows Falls, Vt. March 30 2016.

While in Bellows Falls this spring I took a few photos of this neat looking service station. The weathering is kind of interesting also. I have seen this station many times but never actually stopped to grab a shot...guess I was too busy chasing the trains around town...wish I had room for this one on the layout...George Dutka

This station is located in behind Robertson Papers.

The Rapido Gondola Project - Part Two

This desk top photo shows four of the five gondolas completed in this project.  The two outer cars were completed in Part One; the two inner cars are the subject of this post.

 Or, How To Make Use of That Kit You Really Didn't Want to Assemble.

Commentary by Peter Mumby, with Photos by George Dutka.

In Part One of this exercise (The Rapido Gondola Project, Jan. 10, 2016) we described painting and weathering three undecorated Rapido gondolas and their loads.  We each did one CP car, plus I finished a Pacific Great Eastern gon as well.  George later got to thinking that he would enjoy adding a similar PGE car to his fleet, and I decided to keep him company by completing a car with a tie load to complement the rail load of my initial effort.  While George was contemplating the type of load he would prefer, he happened to pull out an old Westerfield hopper car kit from his inventory.  This was one of the early kits made from the resin that was practically impervious to a sanding stick or a drill bit, and George indicated that he really didn't intend to assemble it any time soon.  The suggestion was then made that the loose resin parts would make an effective scrap metal load for his car; this is what he decided to do, and I think it was a kit well sacrificed.

Why is George's Rapido car posed on a Westerfield box?  This is the donor kit that provided the car's convincing scrap metal load!

This little project was probably our swan song for the current modelling season.  According to the calendar, it is just about time for George to put away his Canopy Cement and his weathering powders, and get out his deck shoes, his sextant, and his copy of Chapman's Piloting, Seamanship,and Small Boat Handling.  Before he heads off to Lake Huron for the summer, he will remove his 1950s-era locomotives and rolling stock from the layout and put them in his storage cabinet.  He does have a small fleet of "modern" equipment which will populate the layout for the next few months, in case summertime visitors materialize.  I guess this new PGE car, with its ACI label and wheel dot, fits this modern era, and will get to spend the summer on the layout.  I'll leave it up to George to concoct the story about how this strange visitor from the Pacific coast found its way onto the White River Division!

This overhead view provides another perspective on George's "Memories of Westerfield Hopper Kit" scrap metal load.

This photo bears witness to George's seasonal transition from railway modeller to Great Lakes sailor.

The trio of PGE gondolas are on the tail end of a CP local. The CP caboose is a True Line Trains offering.

A look inside Peter's gondola which is loaded with some ties.

Cleaning your Tracks with a Cork

I cut a cork in half for use as a track cleaner.

I was reading Eric Hansmann blog "Notes on Designing, Building and Operating Model Railroads" last week which included a great idea for cleaning track. I tried it out and it to seems to works well for me...here are Eric's comments on the subject from his Spring Cleaning post...George Dutka

"Before moving the freight cars back onto the newly cleaned sections, a piece of cork was rubbed over the rail heads to remove dirt. I use wine bottle corks that are cut lengthwise into a half cylinder. No fluid was applied, although I have soaked the cork face with 90% Isopropyl alcohol to clean the track a couple of times. Usually the dry cork face is enough to remove the light film that accumulates between monthly sessions. A few corks are kept handy for track cleaning."

Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads

A cork in use on the White River Division. Thanks to my wife I have a stockpile of corks and a lot of empties to return for deposit. She is happy to do her part in keeping my layout clean and running.

Wordless Wednesday No. 179

A Lesson in Decal Application

Lesson's in what not to do when lettering a boxcar.

My friend Terry sent me this photo he took at Komoka, Ont back in December 2015. Can you see what is wrong with the lettering...Terry was quick it pick out the mistake leading to adding this one to his collection...must have been a Monday job...George Dutka