Two New Hopper Cars

Peter and I recently finished our coal car projects. These are RR flea market finds that got some updates and finishes.

One of the more recent projects Peter and I completed are two Athearn hoppers that had raised sided applied. Mine is done New Haven and Peter's Wabash. I used a combination set by Tichy while Peter dug into his decal collection. The models were weathered with Bragdon powders and PanPastels. I toned them down a bit with a light overspray of Floquil grimy black...George Dutka

This is how the cars looked like when I got home from a late fall railroad flea market. One car needed the ends cut down and a piece of styrene applied to form the top ledge. The other is missing one coupler. They had Pikestuff raised panels already installed.

My car is finished and ready for some weathering. We both replaced the brake wheel with Kadee # 2034 Champion brake wheel. My stirrups were replaced with Tichy #3042 and I bent uncoupling levers.

I added a few acrylic paint spots, Bragdon powders and PanPastels. The car at this point is looking a bit too weathered but I will shortly give the car an overspary of  grimy black.

Here are our two cars. Mine is finished with the overspray completed. Peter's car has just arrived and will also get a light overspray. Peter changed out his stirrups with some finer options from his parts collection. I really like how these finer steps look.

Both cars are now completed. Guess they best be sent off for another load of coal.

Weathered Rolling Stock for the WRD

This is one of my personal favorites as I have a second identical car purchased the same day but with a motorized sound unit in it. Just need to swap the bodies and it will be good to go.

Back in November while helping Peter's Trains (Peter Mumby) at the Ancaster train show I ran across a lady selling off her late husband's collection of nicely weathered rolling stock. I went and got Peter as she was giving a deal on purchases of 10 cars. Peter and I each got five. I was told the cars are weathered by someone in Massachusetts, although no name was given. We both are happy to have gotten to this table for the first pick of these great looking cars. My contemporary summer time trains have a few more cars to pick up along the way. One of the nice things of having these cars is Peter and I now have some weathering inspiration for future projects of our own...George Dutka

Some great weathering on this hopper.

The rust streaking on this model is very nicely done.

My number 5 pick.

Throwback Thursday: Chasing Winter Away

CN 9165 shows off its snow shields and windshield screens at Rectory St in London, on December 21, 1986.  Note that the windshield covers are labelled L and R.

By Peter Mumby

By the time late March rolls around, I think most of us are really ready to chase winter away.  Back in the 1980s, CN still found it necessary to maintain snow plowing equipment in London, Ontario as part of its winter weather contingency plan.  Busy main lines did not require plowing, so if a plow train departed London yard, it was generally headed north up the Exeter Subdivision.  Such a train would usually consist of the plow, two units, and the trailing van.  The old F units, with their streamlined car bodies, were ideally suited for this service.  Snow would not accumulate on their sides, and the inward-opening doors meant the crews could easily exit in case the plow got stuck in a drift.  I think this is a big part of the reason the 9100s were assigned to London long after they disappeared from other regions.  GP9s and RS18s also performed on plow trains, although their walkways often ended up plugged with snow.  Their outward-opening doors also must have periodically presented inconveniences.  CN experimented with roof-mounted appliances designed to minimize the amount of flying snow that got sucked in to the rooftop fans.  The accompanying photos illustrate these snow shields, which were removable for normal summertime service.

With the abandonment of the south end of the Exeter Sub and the transfer of the north end to the Goderich Exeter Railway, CN has exited the branch line business in our area.  Gone are the plows, and gone are the first generation units that pushed them.  However, Southwestern Ontario fans can still chase winter plow trains on GEXR and Ontario Southland, so all is not lost.  As a bonus, OSR still operates F units on its plow trains!

CN 4528 illustrates the snow shield treatment on a road switcher.  Like the other two photos, this shot was taken in the Rectory St shop area in London, On.  Both 4528 (Feb 15) and 9177 (Dec 21) were photographed in 1987.

This rear view of CN 9177 provides a second look at the temporary covers over the fans and a portion of the side grills.  In case you were curious, yes, the rear end of the F units was painted red in this scheme!

Wordless Wednesday No. 277

Orangeville Station - The Barley Vine Rail Co.

Ex-Orangeville station March 24 2018.

 On Saturday evening I decided to try the Barley Vine Rail Co. which is a restaurant inside the ex-CPR station. When I drove by earlier the parking lot was pretty full so it appeared to be a good place to eat. All the tables were reserved so I was given a seat at the bar for dinner. They have their own line of draft but unfortunately they were out. It appears that beer is the first choice before dinner as I kept hearing the same story...all out till tomorrow. I was really surprised at the menu as most of meals featured a twist of old favorites such as pulled pork perogies fried with a Apple based BBQ sauce which includes bourbon. Duck fat fries, meat loaf wrapped in bacon and the list goes on. Everything is made in house including dips and ketchups. I had the meat loaf and duck fries which was maybe the best meatloaf I ever had. The home made ketchup was very tasty and extra came which went on top of my meatloaf. I did not have room for desert but it looked really good and all made in house.

The couple sitting next to me in the bar area had traveled maybe two hours to get here for dinner and was disappointed they were out of the home brew beer and the famous perogies...they had a great second choice. When I got back to the hotel I googled the restaurant which as I though listed a lot of great reviews and also a link to the show You Gotta Eat Here! which featured the perogies, meat loaf and desserts.One can clearly see why this place made the show. Link below to the restaurant. A return trip will be made another day...guess this is more of  restaurant review than a normal blog post...George Dutka

The Barley Vine Rail Co.

The Orangeville station is a larger structure than one would anticipate for this town.

 

Railroading in Orangeville, Ontario

The rail yard is also a transportation terminal for GO buses.

On the weekend I spent the night in Orangeville. I had passed through town via the bypass before but never actually looked around town. Being sunny it was a good time to check out the rail yard and station. The original Orangeville CPR station was moved decades ago to the downtown area and is being used as a restaurant (will cover that separately). The yard has a string of cars with a caboose attached. An engine was parked on a designated service track and a newer looking station has been constructed to be used as a GO bus terminal and for the ex- Credit Valley Explorer scenic train excursions. Cando is in shut down mode and who will service the industries in town is uncertain. Train service is twice a week. Love to hear more from someone in the know...George Dutka

A nice looking station that is not all that old. It would have been nice to see the original station here.

Motive power on the engine service track.

A lot of paint peeling is happening on this side of the ex-CN caboose.

This side of the caboose appears to have been repainted at one point.

Overall view of the station and yard area. March 24, 2018.

Kitchener - Doubleheaders Layout Tour

The Credit Valley Free-mo Group was in the process of setting up when I picked up my layout tour program. It was to be on display for two days so on my way home on Sunday I made a second stop to see it up and running.

I headed over to Kitchener on Saturday for the annual layout tour. It had been a few years since I last attended. I actually saw a few of the layout last spring during the NFR-NMRA convention in town. I passed on many of these layouts and focused on about 5. It was a nice sunny day also and it gave me a chance to hit a few of the location that my have engines or equipment out. One is the GO facility that I have never taken a good look at. It actually is fenced off and mostly hidden. I did get a look at one end of the equipment in behind the McDonald's parking lot. This was a two day trip as I spent the night in Orangeville and headed north of Barrie to pick up an air unit for my boat....more on this trip shortly...George Dutka

The Kitchener GO terminal has two sets of equipment laying over for the weekend. It is all fenced in and much of the area is hidden by structures. The best view is from behind McDonald's. March 24, 2018

David Johns CPR BC layout was one I had seen before. Unfortunately it was very busy and I did not get around the whole layout. The isles are very narrow with many areas having enough room for one person at a time. There was a lot of bottlenecks. This photo was taken from the doorway into the layout room.

On the mountain a clean up is well underway in the BC mountains.

David had a really nice sign out front.

My next stop was to Greg Shinnie's waterfront scene. On display was this building flat in a frame which was made by Bob Santos, as a gift  for Greg.

Greg's layout I covered in a post last spring is actually a diorama that he will build into a home layout. The wharf has trackage on both sides that needs switching.

To get to each side there is a 4' wide loop with a siding which lets you run around cars. A 0-8-0 was working the wharf this day.

In Guelph I stopped in to see a G scale basement layout. A real treat to see something that large running indoors and well detailed. The layout is the work of John Johnson.

On Sunday I arrived late afternoon to check out the Free-mo Group once again. It was setup as a three pronge display. There was many trains and switchers running at the same time. More on this setup later.

One of the larger displays of this group.

Pickup Truck Scene

A neat looking scene one can add along the right of way which adds more interest to the layout.

A view from one of the scenes I found at Springfield this year has given me some new inspiration. I can do that somewhere along the WRD mainline in the Vermont countryside...George Dutka

Now to find a pickup truck that needs some grime.

Rouses Point, NY - Gord Taylor Photos

Rouses Point, NY D&H shop area May 21, 1977. Gord Taylor photo, Peter Mumby collection.

 Here is a small group of photos by Gord Taylor that I have scanned from the Peter Mumby collection...George Dutka

A detail you might want to add if you model this yard. May 21, 1977. Gord Taylor photo

D&H turntable May 21, 1977. Gord Taylor photo

Gord Talyor poses for a shot taken by Bruce Douglas at the shop area of Rouses Point. May 21, 1977. You may have noticed the duel camera's and bracket that Gord used for taking slides and prints at the same time.

Another Before and After

The finished model that will find a home on my display shelf for now.

I purchased a box of finished scratch built models that are built well but the finishing needed a bit of work. I originally only wanted one building from the box but came home with all 5 as the gentleman wanted them all gone and the price reflected that. I decided to clean them up a bit and sell the unwanted ones at the next show. As it turned out I like how most have turned out and only have one to sell at the moment. Here is a look at one I am keeping...George Dutka

This building originally was for an HOn3 layout. I re-coloured it using PanPastels and Bragdon powders. It is a nice looking building even without a clean up.

Another look at the structure fresh out of the box.

Some details are added to the platform. The walls are coloured with PanPastels while I used various shades of Bragdon rust on the roofing.

I added a bit of flooring inside the doorway and some details are included. One of the windows is boarded up since it was broken. The wall shoot is made from a straw.

I don't have a use for this structure but I really like how the roof turned out and have decided to keep it for now.