Wordless Wednesday No. 196

WRD - A Layout Tour Visit

A CV milk train headed by a CNR engine approaches the diamond.

My friend Terry sent me some views he took of the White River Division during the London area layout tour back in April...here are a few for you to see...George Dutka

A B&M local is seen near the White River Jct. station and diamond.

The Westboro shop track is a busy place this day.

Rutland Ry 0-8-0 handles the switching chores at Bellows Falls during the layout tour.

An overview of the Crosby coal facilities on the WRD.

New Haven 50ft Double Door Boxcar

My finished Robin's Rails boxcar is already in service in the Bellows Falls yard. It got a good dose of weathering since it will be in later years service. This small NH fleet  of 15 cars was numbered 40500-40514. It was part of a larger order for the C&O.

The weather being what it was in July (extra hot and very humid) I did not spend as much time at the lake as I would have liked. The trade off was a number of days down in my cool basement finishing off kits I have had on the go for sometime now and begin a few new ones. This car a Robin's Rails Inc. offering I touched on in a early post this summer. Well it went together a lot quicker than I anticipated although it did require some compromises. The instructions included suck, but I have built a lot of this style of car in the past and was not a problem.

I modeled the car with one set of doors open. I added a bunch of unused details to make it more interesting when sitting on a siding. If I use it on a train I just reverse it, using the other side with the closed doors as one never gets a peek at the other car sides while covering the WRD route. Although this car was built in Nov. 1956 I weathered it up as it looked in the photo from 1972 and will be in my contemporary fleet. The photo captions tell the rest of the story...George Dutka

The finished assembled car is seen next to the photo I used to weather the car. Lots of missing paint on the roof and streaks down the side. The rust spots on the car sides I just dabbed some Floquil rust onto areas seen in the photo with a fine brush.

The open doors add more interest to this car with barrels, boxes and crates up front. Along the rear wall are some old oil signs and so on. Newspapers are also found laying around by the doorway. Tichy wire grabs are added on the sides and ends. I also bent wire cut levers for each end. Tack boards are added as seen in the photos. An ACI label is added along with a Herald King lube label as seen in the prototype photos.

The roof got a good weathering as seen in the books picture. I began by brushing full strength Floquil old silver on the roof. I then added a light wash of Floquil rust over the silver followed by a similar wash of grime. Bragdon powders followed.

Guess the NH will be getting a surprise.as one can see the CV and B&M are using this car to load all their junk scattered around the yard. By the way this double door car had a 7 ft door on the left and a 8 ft. door on the right.

This is how it looked before I started.

Another look at the White River Division

Seems like this back road crossing will be tied up for a bit thanks to the B&M. Are you wondering if the farmhouse owner is a railfan.

For the WRD article I sent in over 30 photos for RMC to choose from. Stephen picked some of my favorites for the feature but there are a few more that view other areas of the layout. Here are four more B&M operating views...enjoy...George Dutka

The tail end of a B&M local is passing the Inwood flag station. Looks like there is a passenger for the White River Jct bound train that will be along shortly. The station is a Creative Laser Design kit.

A B&M switcher drifts by the old Central Vermont Ry. station area of Northfield Falls, Vermont. The station is long gone but the old station sign still survives and is seen mounted on the covered bridge just like on the prototype. The Cows are Woodland Scenic offerings. A farm boy is keeping his ducks in line while the train passes with the help of his dog.

A B&M local is headed to Bellows Falls (just around the corner from this view). A B&M milk platform is seen in the foreground while a typical New England general store is across the road.

Wordless Wednesday No. 195

White River Division - Overhead View

A B&M freight heads towards Bellows Falls which is in the next room. Currently Bellows Falls is well over half way finished. All trackage in BF is laid, powered and ballasted....just some buildings and background scenes to be added.

Here is a shot I took sometime ago looking into the main room where the White River Division is housed. The Westboro roundhouse had not been added yet when this photo was taken...George Dutka

CP - Bachmann S-2

CP's S-2 works it's way along the White River Division during a later era scene.

I purchased a few years back a Bachmann engine with sound that I was planning to repaint into a New England line. I decided since I was going to have a contemporary fleet on display at times I would need a  few engines. Although this particular CP engine was not used in New England it was used in Ontario and is currently on display in downtown Toronto. I have been using it as is but decided to add a bit of weathering and a few simple detail add-ons. Here is what I did to my engine in one afternoon.

Details Added
I added Juneco C-33 rerailers painted Floquil #12 CN yellow, Details West SL-172 step lights, door handle on rear of cab from bent wire, wiper blades from my parts box, Details West FF167 sand filler and Details Associates #1107 Alco lift rings. I only had a couple on hand so more might be added at a later date. I added Walthers ACL labels D679-HO and touched up the paint in areas missing with white, black and red. That's about it. I could have added the front hood grabs and more on the side but I only have a few left and they are needed on a boxcar I am also working on. These days with our local hobby shop not carrying much in the line of detail parts I have to wait to get restocked when traveling and hitting other shops...George Dutka

I added some red chalk to dull down the shine of the red. One can see it has been applied to the cab roof. More red chalk will follow shortly.

My small fleet of B&M beer cars are being taken care of by CP 7020.

Part of the windows are removed to include an engineman. At some point or when I get motivated once again I will paint up a brakeman. He will find his way into the other window.

Some weathering has been added as these Alcos sure looked grimy throughout most of their working years.

A caboose hop heading over the White River. The caboose is a Rapido offering.

On display in Toronto, Ont. Aug 2015.

CP 7020 on display at John St. roundhouse near Rogers Center and Union Station, Toronto, Aug 2015.

CN Glencoe Station

The CN Glencoe station on Aug 20 2016 looks a lot better than it did during the years I worked on the CN. It has been moved back from the tracks a bit and is the center of attention at this park.

Today we took two of our grand-kids blueberry picking at Parks Blueberry farms. On the way we passed through Glencoe the location of a really nicely restored CN station. It has been years since I last was here and have spend many a night waiting for meets out in front of this station. Wish that Tim Horton's donut shop located across the tracks was there back then...George Dutka

A typical  CN style section house and CN caboose are also located on site.

The CN section house is in very good shape. There is a lot of track space behind the caboose if more rolling stock is acquired.

Railfanning With a Twist - Company Service Trucks

This NECR vehicle was just pulling into the Palmer parking lot as we arrived.  March 30, 2016.

Photo Essay by Peter Mumby

Most railfans have their cameras at the ready as the head end of a train approaches, and then just watch dutifully as the rest of the consist passes by.  Some of us also stay vigilant for interesting pieces of rolling stock.  And then there is my friend Luc.  He likes to watch it all, but often limits his photography to company service rolling stock..........and company service trucks!  Recently I have occasionally found myself thinking along these same lines, so what follows are a few examples from our recent excursion to New England.  Many of these photos were taken at Palmer, Mass.

All GW vehicles have a distinct family resemblance.  This one looks a lot like the Huron Central and OVR vehicles Luc and I photographed three years ago in Northern Ontario.

A number of CSX vehicles were congregated in a parking lot at Palmer.

Progress Rail has a facility in Palmer near the NECR yard.

CSX crews were busy in Palmer on Mar. 30/16.

This GMRC truck was parked in nice evening light at Bellows Falls Vt. on Mar. 30, 2016. The impressive Robertson Paper Co. structure in the background has been featured in a number of George's posts.

It was a dull afternoon when we visited Pittsfield, Mass., both from a weather and train-watching standpoint.  This CSX truck was practically the only game in town.  Note the snow on the hood in this Apr. 04/16 photograph.

Re-purposed Boxcar

Palmer Mass. May 2015. An old CV boxcar still in use as an office and shop.

If you seen the Aug 2016 issue of RMC you have seen the re-purposed boxcar feature. One of the photos that did not make it into the feature, which I really liked is a boxcar currently still in use by the NECR in Palmer, Mass. I took this photo last May while railfanning the area with Don. It was still in use this April when Peter and I stopped by. This might be a scene I would like to model as a mini scene...may have to make another stop for a few more detailed views...George Dutka

Wordless Wednesday No. 194

Caboose Hobbies to Close

Just a note...another hobby shop on its way out...George Dutka

Humid Week Cool Down - Remember Winter is Coming

Not sure what the story is behind a GT plow visiting Quebec during March 1983. Gord Taylor collection.

A GT plow in Quebec is one of the slides I have scanned for Peter Mumby from the Gord Taylor collection...enjoy this cool view during another hot spell...George Dutka

Heading Through the Tunnel

A late evening view of my new CP caboose heading through the Bellows Falls tunnel. This Rapido, custom painted offering by George's Trains has operating marker lights.

I picked up this one of a kind CP caboose at George's Trains during Peter's and I visit to Rapido. George's Trains is across the street from Rapido in Toronto. If one is interested they still have a few left and they are currently about half price. Peter and I covered this caboose back last winter...George Dutka

Billerica Ma. Shop

Billerica, Ma. shops January 24, 1975, Bruce Nelson photo

Peter and I stopped by the old shops at North Billerica, Ma. back this spring. Just recently Bruce Nelson was posting some views of the interior of these shop building 41 years before our visit....neat to see how it once looked. Thanks Bruce for allowing me to post these view here...enjoy...George Dutka

Jan. 24, 1975 Bruce Nelson photo

Bruce Nelson photo

Billerica Shop on April 2 2015 George Dutka photo.

This is what Peter and I saw inside the shops on April 2, 2016.

Jan 24 1975 Bruce Nelson photo

Bruce Nelson photo

Wharf Street Layout - Peter Mumby's Views

A local Forney drifts though town.

Since both Peter and I photographed the Wharf Street Layout at Bar Mills I thought I would show you a few of Peter's views here and mine on my Modeling Maine in Narrow Gauge blog. For Peter's views I picked shots that are along the waterline. Art modeled the layout as one is in the bay looking inland...enjoy...George Dutka

Peter's overall view has Art showing me something on his phone. Note how the water is throughout the layouts foreground.

The wharf scene features many boats.

Two more of the boats are well modeled and appear to be floating in the water.

Art has added many details to each scene.

And at the end of the layout is the location for a rail car ferry to arrive. The ferry is not modeled but presumed on its way.