Alco's

GT 7916 appears to be posed for a builders photo. This engine falls into the same numbering scheme as some of the CV Alco's.

The other day I spent sometime scanning a few extra photos that I though you might like. Here we have a couple of Alco photos from my collection...George Dutka

CN 8190, I don't have any other information about location or date.

HO Scale Motorcycles

A 1942 Harley is now part of the display in the Bellows Falls parking lot.

The last meeting of our area group, The Railroaders was at Brain Smith's home. We had a nice look at his layout which included a display of motorcycles out on Main Street. Brian noted that some of these bikes were actually Christmas ornaments offered by Hallmark as their Keepsake series. Brian was a great host giving me a bike he had extra that would work on my layout...thank once again Brian...George Dutka

The little ring that is inserted in the fuel tank is removed before placing on the layout. A really nicely detailed machine.

A Blur?

Seems like this train is flying along...just some fun with Photoshop using a photo I found online...George Dutka

Bellows Falls Platform Roofing

Lets take a second look at Bellows Falls station platform.

I got a comment about the roofing material the other day and thought I should say a few words about how it went together. I went through my stock of Styrene and found I had what I needed but it was not long enough and would have to be pieced together. I could have gone to the hobby show and picked up what was needed but when I built this structure I could not walk after rolling my ankle playing ball.

The pieces I cut fit together really well except I had to cut new ends as I messed up with my measurements. All the areas that was joined together was done using Canopy cement. I also used this glue as a filler where needed. It all looked really good so I decided to try something different painting the roof with dollar store acrylics, then adding the roof sheeting joints using a pencil. The last detail was some gloss on a few joints as patching. The roof got Bragdon powder soot as the only weathering applied...George Dutka

Here we see the three colours I mixed in as I went along. As one can see I just squeezed a bit of each colour on a piece of card stock and with this wider brush mixed it onto the brush as it is applied. It is random so the colour is close but not exact across the roof.

The styrene sheeting is not long enough but I pieced it together with minimal gaping.

I still have one piece to be added. I use strip wood for the supports.

Wordless Wednesday No. 229

Schomberg Narrow Gauge Show 2017

How would you like to build your model cars from cutouts found in card-stock booklets. That is what they did when modeling in the 1940's. The gentleman who now is in his late 80's built these models as a 12 year old. He had a really nice display of his work.

On Saturday I attended and displayed a table full of my Maine narrow gauge equipment and structures. Here are a few views from the day...George Dutka

The Mt. Albert Lumber display...good deals for the scratch-builders on off cuts...narrow gauger's are a great bunch that can turn nothing into an interesting model.

One of the three clinics was a hands on PanPastel work session.

An HO scale Mt. Albert offering.

A On30 car ferry emulating the CPR operations from out west.

O scale model on display.

This photo has nothing to do with narrow gauge. On my way home I was on 427 heading south to the 401...the next thing I know I am on another roadway heading into Pearson airport. The road ended at a stop light...while at the red light I was figuring out which way to turn a UP train passed on the elevated railway track...this is a grab shot out my side window. I guess a detour was not all that bad.

Sunny Sunday Railfanning

This was all the main line action we saw yesterday. Ingersoll, Ont.

Yesterday Don Janes and I traveled to Woodstock to take in the spring flea market. The show was great but no luck with any trains in town. We normally see the OSR at the CP Woodstock station. Not sure if we arrived late or it did not run. We spent sometime there to see if anything might show up on the mainline. Off to Ingersoll CN station to see what we might see there. As it turned out not much with a work block as a crew worked on the switch just west of the station.  We moved on to the OSR shop. No luck there with no one around...all locked up. When we arrived back in London the CP had a switching job working the east end of the yard with a freshly painted engine. A quick stop at the station and the day was over...better days ahead I guess....George Dutka.

Work block at Ingersoll while a crew works at a switch.

A clean looking engine switching at the east end of CP yard London, Ont.

The ex-CP station once used as a Keg now sits empty.

Some signs of The Keg are still seen on the door after moving out a few months back.

Portland Company Works

An aerial view of the Portland Company Works 1901-1920.

While visiting the narrow gauge museum in Portland, Maine I took a few photos of maps and photos on the wall. It was interesting to see these views of the building I actually was in and home to the museum...George Dutka

One can see that there was a time when Portland's waterfront was a busy place. The GT station and trackage is viewed here.

A view of the museum and one of the buildings used by the Portland Company Works, Sept 2016.

Water Tank Viewed From Down Low

A Rutland steam powered local hauls a short train over the WRD.

 I used my Canon pocket camera the other day and took a couple of photos of the water tank scene from ground zero...a really different look from the last post...George Dutka

The engine is seen a bit before crossing the roadway to the quarry. I noted I need to clip a string end on the spout. Shooting some photos down low help clean up the little things in the scene.

Rutland Ry. Caboose No. 45 - Update

Rutland Ry. caboose at Center Rutland, Vermont March 2012. This area will be open for inspection during next weekends Rutland Railroad Historical Society Convention.

The following is an update sent in by John Schaub after he read my 2012 post. If interested the RRHS convention is in Rutland, Vt. next weekend...George Dutka

"Thank you stopping by the Rutland Railway Museum in earlier years. Since your last visit,
our organization went through quite a few changes. We had an administrative change with a positive result. Currently, the 45 is being carefully looked at to preserve what there is to make "her" presentable for visitors in upcoming months. Work is underway with making the cupola weather tight as possible. All the work is being done with a skeleton crew of myself and one of the officers from the Rutland Railway Association. There's a lot of good surprises found in the caboose. Lots of the original details are still intact. And yes there's some water issues found along the way. The roof needs to be re-covered with something other than a blue tarp. We are looking at roofing membrane to reduce the water seepage to a minimum. The cupola has structural damage. With common sense and
some level of woodworking sense; 45 could be cosmetically saved in some form or another. We lack volunteers and new "blood" to join our group. 45 is only one of many projects that need to be put in place. Funding is always an issue and that area is a sensitive topic with railway preservation in many places. The good news, at the end of this month in April; the Rutland Railway Historical Society will be visiting the depot and #45 on a private tour of the facilities. #45 will be open for inspection to the members of the RRHS. I will be there on call for the day. Along with a few of our members leading a guide tour of our complex. The Rutland Railroad Museum is a diamond in the rough."

Sylvan Scale Models - Open House

Clare invites you to his open house at his shop in June...check out the flyer...George Dutka

Snapshot - April 2017

A very early spring scene that changes daily, April 17, 2017 just east of Komoka, Ont. I will see how it looks next week when heading up to the lake once again.

I was heading up to the boat on Monday when I saw two headlights coming in opposite directions (double track) at the River Road crossing just east of Komoka, Ontario. I did a quick U-turn and pulled up alongside the mainline on River Rd. I had my camera along for this trip as I wanted to capture a large patch of wood violets that were in full bloom further down the road along the river and in the woods.

As it turned out both trains arrived at the crossing at about the same time not giving me much time to set up or think about a view. I went for a view of the EB over the fence which is low down in this location and including the sign marking the sharp curve in the road ahead. The light was best for this train also. I thought this turned out to be a good looking view for a scramble shot. I actually was in flip flops in the muck and brush to boot. As I drove away I realized spring scenes like this with almost no foliage and greening grass is something I have not seen modeled. Early Spring is actually a neat season. It is a bright and colourful season, a fresh look after long winters that one could have fun modeling. It also is a very short season with daily changes. Budding trees, bright green fields with a touch of brown areas, dandelions and fruit tree blossoms...a interesting prospect for a modeler and worth thinking about...George Dutka

Throwback Thursday Encore: The Final GP9..........Built.

Dan Murrell took this image of OSR 102/ETR 102/ACR 172 outside the Salford, Ontario shops of Ontario Southland Railway on Apr 01, 2017.

Commentary by Peter Mumby with Photo by Dan Murrell.

On April 13, I presented a Throwback Thursday piece entitled "The Final GP9."  Any time you discuss "firsts" or "lasts," things are always subject to opinions, interpretations, or semantics - and what about the possibility of a dead heat?  It was pointed out that some sources refer to MEC 450 (ex-Algoma Central Railway 171) as the last GP9.  My original reference was the Canadian Trackside Guide, which simply refers to ETR (later OSR) 102, ex-ACR 172, as the "last GP9 built."  Could it be that these other sources are referring to 171 as the last GP9 delivered?  This time I turned to local railway historian and GMD expert Don McQueen to see what was available in his files or memory bank. Don says: "In a way both are correct.......as both were delivered on Aug 12, 1963.  But.......to be more correct (or a bit picky):  Since the builder's number for 171 is A-2018, and 172 with A-2019, I'd say the last GP9 "built" would be the latter, as 172 has a later/higher build-number and since GMD in those early days tended to complete units in sequential order."  Any way you look at it, both units are significant, if only for the fact that they were completed several years after the bulk of the GP9 production had been wrapped up.  At any rate, I will be keeping an eye on OSR 102; maybe we can post an updated photo when it rolls out of Salford shop dressed in a full maroon and cream paint job!

Wordless Wednesday No. 228

Bellows Falls, Vermont - Station Platform

An RDC arrives at the Bellows Falls platform on the WRD.

This past winter I finished and installed the station platform for Bellows Falls. It is mounted on a piece of Gatorfoam. I originally was going to add tar paper but the roof looked so good once I had it all glued together I just painted it with dollar store mix of black, white and brown. I added the seam lines with a lead pencil. Some gloss coat is used to add some repair lines...George Dutka

The station sign is a photocopy of the original found on the CVRHS Ambassador cover photo.

I built a B&M style train order signal for the platform then adding baggage and passengers.

An overhead view of the roof. I think it turned out pretty good as I just painted the styrene with a brush before detailing.

The CVRHS cover view that I copied for the sign. This view was a great help while building the model. The photo was taken by Dwight Smith in the early 1950's.

The eavestrough are made from code 70 rail cut to size. I used wire for the downspouts.

The platform is a busy place on this day.

Ian's Views of the B&M and CV

“B&M SW-1 1120 in Bellows Falls, Vermont during the summer of 1971”.Ian Stronach photo

Ian Stronach passed along more photos for us to view of the CV and B&M. I will be posting these over the next bit between modeling posts. Ian is also a modeler, modeling urban Montreal, CPR. Enjoy Ian's views...George Dutka

This photo was taken by Ian's friend Dave Clark. B&M 119 looks well worn by this point. This weathering job might be a chore to emulate, the engine is clean...must have had a bath, but has a lot of peeled and faded paint.

 

GTW 1509 handles a group of four cabooses in St. Albans Italy yard during 1969. Ian Stronach photo

A snowy winter day in St. Albans Italy yard, 1969. Note the amount of snow on top of CV8080. Two CV wooden caboose also have a good amount of snow on their tail end. If one was to model a winter scene such as this, would one add all this snow to the end of a fine caboose model. Ian Stronach photo

WRJ Boxcar- Tool House

At the rear of the seen is another tool house.

As my modeling season is winding down I have done a few quick updates. I now have the Proto shell tool house installed next to the backdrop in the White River Jct yard. A little tree cutting and brush cleaning and all is well...George Dutka

A down low view of the tool house.

Water Tank along the WRD

A Rutland Ry. Mike approaches the WRD water tank now in use.

I made a base that houses a drop-in diorama for my water tank near the Petersburg station and quarry. Here we have a few photos of the finished scene...George Dutka

Rutland Ry. 32 heads a short freight by the tank.