Wabash Coal Hoppers on the WRD

Three loaded Wabash open-top hoppers roll North from  Bellows Falls yard on the WRD.

Commentary by Peter Mumby
Photos by George Dutka
 
Back in early September I took part in a local CARM (Canadian Association of Railway Modellers) get-together.  Attendance was low, but the over-all quality of the meet was high.  The purchase of a few raffle tickets yielded a nice prize for myself; a 6-pack of very nice Broadway Limited hopper cars decorated in Wabash colours.  I decided to keep two and donate a third car to augment the growing fleet on the White River Division; the remaining three cars will be used as trade bait.

When we got together for our first weekly modelling session of the new season, we decided that weathering these cars would be an easy initial project.  As an added inducement, on his latest foray into New England, George had picked up a recent addition to the PanPastel line which was designed to simulate the "black diamond" appearance of recently-mined coal.  This we had to try! 

We started by removing the simulated coal loads, and treating them to a coat of the new PanPastel shade.  The balance of the cars were brushed with an assortment of PanPastel red, rust, and earth hues.  Another of George's new acquisitions, a lighter coal shade, represented a build-up of coal dust on the car sides.  George originally intended to supplement these colours with an application of Bragdon powders, but experience showed that these did not adhere well over the PanPastels.  On another occasion he will apply the powders ahead of the Pastels.

A simple project, indeed, but I think we were both pleased with the end results.  Watch for these cars on passing freights on the White River Division!

It is nice that we were able to grab a "drone" view of one of these cars!

This workbench view really gives you an appreciation for the "sparkle" in the coal loads provided by the new PanPastel colour.  George's car is at the front of this picture; you can see that he has recently decided to start removing the coupler trip pins on his rolling stock.