Napierville Junction 802 in for Repairs

Napierville Junction boxcar missing a door at the rip track Oneonta, NY May 24, 1977 Gord Taylor photo

Northern Coal and Lumber Office - Completed

My finished Walthers wood series office which includes a side add-on. I added a few BEST details, pigeons to the roof once done.

Here is a series of photos viewing my latest weathering job. I posted a front view as a Wordless Wednesday a few weeks back. I am happy with how it all turned out. I originally planned on selling it but I just might keep it now...George Dutka

I kept the signage to a minimum on this model. I did add some grass and weeds along the edges.

The window glazing is frosted with dullcote. I added paper bag blinds to all the windows and doors.

A close-up look at the roof. A bit of junk thrown around. The roof was painted black followed by some PanPastels. The vent got a coat of my rusty mix (vinegar and steel wool). The chimney is painted red followed by mortar mix and a concrete coloured cap using Floquil paints. Gloss coat seams are added reflecting tar patching.

CV Jordan Spreader

Building a Walthers kit into a CV Jordan Spreader...by Don Janes

Finished Central Vermont.Jordan Spreader sits beside the White River Jct. roundhouse

     When Walthers announced they were going to produce a Jordan Spreader kit a year ago I was really interested so I did some research into whether the Central Vermont had any similar cars. I want to expand my CV M of W fleet and I thought that this would make a great addition. CV had two Jordan Speaders, an older one numbered 4284 and a more modern unit, number 4285, built in 1947. After browsing through many different books and publications I found several good photos of the car with both the high front plow and also a short version. The model comes with the high plow.  The only problem I could see was that all the pictures with the high plow were painted with the post 1961 CV noodle and any with the low plow were in the older pre 1961 wafer scheme. Since I model the 1950’s I was afraid I would have to cut down the plow to match the photos.  The problem was that the kit is designed for the high plow and lowering it would require rebuilding the entire front end to accommodate the lower plow.

This photo shows the 4285 with the lower front plow blade, likely in the 1950's

              I decided to go ahead and build the kit as it was designed and hope that at some point I would find a photo of it in the 1950’s scheme.  Well, fortunately when I was just about to paint the spreader George sent me a photo from the CV Ambassador showing the plow with the white CV wafer on the side of the cab.  I think the car was built with the high plow but the top section was removed for better vision when doing right of way grading.  You can clearly see from the photos that the top section was held in place to the lower section with bolts and the bolt holes can be seen clearly in the photos. It seems the high plow was likely put back when used in snow plow service and once the snow plows were gradually retired the spreader was used more in snow plow service as well as grading.  

George sent me this photo from the Ambassador showing the spreader with the high plow and decorated with the wafer herald.

     The new model features working blades and can be built into various versions.  I decided to go with the kit instead of the RTR version so I could build it in sections and paint the various pieces separately then do the final assembly.  When I opened the kit I became a little concerned because there were a lot of parts and no written instructions, just a bunch of exploded views of the various sections.  Once I took a step back and started to decipher everything I noticed every part was numbered on the spruce and if you follow those numbers with the exploded views everything started to go together quite nicely.  All the parts making up the wing assemblies that move fit together extremely well with very little sanding or fussing.  The only real time consuming part of the construction was putting all the hinge assemblies together with the tiny pins.

Once the kit is assembled all the wings move in and out like on the prototype.

A rear view showing the air reservoir mounted on the rear deck

 

This model made a great addition to my CV M of W fleet.

  As mentioned before I built the kit in sub assemblies, painted them as I went them did the final assembly.  I used a mixture of Floquil Engine Black and Grimy Black for the body and painted the window frames in the cab area Floquil Signal Red.  The decals were given to me several years ago by Armand Premo and are printed by Rail Graphics. The rear truck is a roller bearing truck which is incorrect for my model so once I track down a Walthers Bettendorf truck that fits correctly I will replace it.  I still need to weather the car but the bulk of the work is behind me. 

     This was a fun kit to build and I am more than happy with the finished model.  

Wordless Wednesday No. 297

Snapshot - September 2018

Labor intensive was the fact during these years.

For this months snapshot lets look at a closeup view of some old time unloading that I came across recently. No information was included with these views other than the location is Harvard, Illinois during 1946...enjoy...George Dutka

A neat little scene to model on a foreground siding.

Northern Coal and Lumber Office

PanPastels are used to weather this structure. The roof got some gloss coat as tar roof seams. I popped out the windows as they were not secured properly. This structure got the same treatment as the coal shed. I applied a wash of acrylic Anita's woodsy smoke to dull down the green and the lettering. Then PanPastel weathering was applied.

Included with the Walthers kit-bashed coal shed was this office building. It had a scale and covered addition added to the side of it. I had to take a lot of it apart to properly re-glue it...George Dutka

This is how the structure looked when I go it home. The drive through area on the right side of the structure is an add-on to the Walthers wood series office.

The roof was not secured well so it was removed which also pulled the sidewalls apart. It made detailing the interior portion of the structure easier.

Walthers and Atlas Lumber Shed

A comparison of lumber sheds.

Here we have a comparison of a Walthers and Atlas lumber shed. The Walthers shed is a lot larger in size. The Walthers model has been converted into a coal shed and covered in a past post. I am thinking the Atlas model will stay as a lumber shed...George Dutka

Depending on how much room one has in a scene there is options with these two kits.

CNR 40' Flatcar

The car seen in this week's Wordless Wednesday.

I was looking through a group of photos on the Erie Lackawanna E-Mail List Photo Archives that was mentioned by Eric Hansmann on his blog Notes of Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads when I came upon this photo. There is no data about location although the year was set as maybe 1926 or 1927. For us modelers this car looks a lot like an Athearn 40' flatcar with the trucks changed out...something to think about...George Dutka

Does not look like a lot of effort is needed to unload this car...just stay out of the way when the unloading begins. A neat load for modeling. One of these car might show up on the WRD at some point.

Throwback Thursday - Weekend Warriors

GO 726 waits for a replacement CP crew at the east end of Quebec St. Yard in London, Ontario on June 04, 1988.

By Peter Mumby.

Over the last couple of T.T. posts a mini-theme seems to have been developing - sort of a "Go Transit Equipment in Unusual Locales" type of scenario.  Today's offering features GO 726 at the head of an eastbound CP freight at London's Quebec Street Yard on Saturday June 04/88.  So, what was that all about?

Throughout the diesel era CP has often leased off-line locomotives to alleviate temporary shortages of motive power.  In the 1970s units were acquired from railroads such as BAR or B&M, while in the 1980s we often encountered equipment of the "rent-a-wreck" variety from various leasing companies.  Beginning around 1984, CP began renting GO locomotives for use over the weekend, as the vast majority of GO trains were Monday-Friday operations at that time.  A set of three such units would make a Toronto-Windsor round trip on Saturday, then repeat the process on Sunday.  Periodically, CP locomotives would appear in the mix, but it was most gratifying to catch the GO power in pure sets.  This, then, explains why a set of GO units would be awaiting a re-crew in London.  Chances are, they were at the head end of train #904, which was on its way to Montreal, then down into New England.  One of my favourite trains of that era, it normally featured a lot of the 50' boxcars from BAR, B&M, LVRC, and others that I enjoyed photographing.

The second train in the photo, Extra Soo 6620 East, illustrates another common feature on CP Trains of the late 1980s.  Beginning around mid-1985, three unit sets of Soo SD40-2 locomotives started appearing.  Very quickly, this power became intermixed with CP, and later MILW, locomotives, adding greatly to the colour of that era.

Wordless Wednesday No. 296

Revitalizing a Vintage Diorama

This is the "before" appearance of the diorama featured in today's post.  Dust is still visible on the water surface.  The monochromatic look of the old ground foam is apparent, and the lichen bushes really aren't up to current standards.

By Peter Mumby,

with photos by George Dutka.

Over the years, George has built a lot of models - locomotives, rolling stock, structures, layouts, dioramas - and several of these models have eventually migrated to my personal collection.  Such is the case with the diorama featured in this post.

So, how old is this particular piece of George's modelling history anyway?  He wrote an article entitled "Modelling a Trestle Bridge in HO" which appeared in the short-lived publication "Trackside Modeller" in its August, 1995 edition.  The trestle unit was assembled as part of a module which was retired in 1985.  He continued to use it as a display piece for several more years before trading it off to me.  It sat on my shelf as an equipment display base for more than twenty years, until the accumulated dust became more prominent than the featured rolling stock.  The single shade of green ground foam had turned fifty shades of grey, and the lichen shrubbery had morphed into something resembling scouring pads.  As the politicians like to say, it was time for a change.

The offending Iichen was cut away, and the dust was removed with a vacuum cleaner and some soft brushes.  The original water surface had been replicated using high gloss varnish; this was refreshed with an application of gloss medium.  It was applied with a stippling motion to impart some added life to the surface.  The biggest single change came about with the application of several shades of static grass.  A boxcar shed, outhouse, and handcar set-off were added for the use of the local bridge maintenance crew,  and some appropriate signage was installed at each end of the trestle.  A pair of hopeful fishermen completed the scene.  Once again, I have an attractive display base for some of my favourite pieces of rolling stock.

CP 5001 tip toes gingerly across the George's Gorge trestle with a van hop, adhering religiously to the posted 10 m.p.h. limit.

This drone shot demonstrates the "after" appearance of the refreshed diorama.

With the vast majority of the added structures and details, this is the "business" end of the diorama.

A pair of local fishermen try their luck as a CP local creeps past.  Their canoes have been carefully beached, although I don't see any evidence of paddles.  For their sake, let's hope this body of water isn't the infamous Schitt's Creek!

TIchy Crates

Tichy offers a package of sides which make up 8 crates. I have six completed but the two smallest are really small and I decided to use them as lids that have been taken off and scattered around a dock loading site.

I always like to try a new product from time to time. I picked up a package of Tichy crates this summer which are quite easy to assemble. They assembled into various size and shaped boxes. Some look good in HO scale while others could work well for S and O scale...George Dutka

The boxes are spray bombed with a camo olive colouring that I picked up in Home Hardware. I then used some PanPastels to highlight the colouring. The photo shows the sprayed box and one weathered.

Quebec Central - Boxcar

Although the photo is torn and water damaged it still is neat to see. A good candidate for modeling. Quebec Central 2908 was built in 1910. It is seen  in Oct. 1954  at Vancouver, BC. Richard Burg collection.

Wordless Wednesday No. 295

September Update

My new addition to the WRD fleet...an older Atlas engine weathered and rusted up. More on it shortly.

Now that the weather is cooling off I will be spending a good amount of time at the lake. This summer I accomplished more modeling projects than any other in the last decade. Between lots of rain in August, extreme heat in July and the beginning of September I have been down below a lot. Not complaining it was a nice change. Posts might be limited over the next few weeks...George Dutka

Another hobby shop closes down due to retirement. I stopped by Beamsville, Ont. last Thursday to find this hobby shop closed and empty. I had heard it was closing, but it happened quickly.

This is a recent before and after. I purchased it built for a dollar and went to work detailing it a bit.

Curator John Kastner was shocked - to add new exhibit !

Most of us model these type of structures silver. Here is a weathered and painted storage structures once part of the mill in town. These are in Lucan, Ont. trackside when tracks were still running through town. The old CN Forest Sub. was pulled up a couple of decades ago.

The roof weathering is kind of neat.

Note the swayback seen in the roof line.

Scenic Express is bringing out a new Static grass product. Burlington Jct. Hobbies in Hamilton, Ont. will be putting in an order with Scenic Express for this new product and other Scenic Express items by the end of the week. Check out their booth at the fall trains shows or Scenic Express on-line.

Boxcar Spray Painters

1939 re-finished X-29.

A few views of how the workers looked while painting boxcar during 1939. Some breathing safety equipment was already in use back then...George Dutka

Modeling a CV Hopper

The prototype photo, Pikestuff panels and an Accurail model that I will use to replicate a CV hopper.

Using the photo from my last post I decided to built this CV hopper. I have a nicely built Accurail hoppers built by Bob Bowes but lettered for his home road. He had used dry transfers which were not sealed. They came off quickly by just scrapping them with my burnishing tool.

I also have a package of Pikestuff raised panels # 4000 which I applied using Walthers goo. For some reason some of the panels are missing so I cut some of the full panels to size. That is what you get when you purchase parts at train flea markets. The car is now ready for painting and lettering. It will not get into the paint shop till my boat comes out the end of the month.

CV raised panel hoppers were rebuilt from straight metal sheeting in 1936-1937 a second group was converted in 1941-42. The second group was painted boxcar red. The earlier group was black.CV 20030 falls into the latter group being red. Conversion back to straight side hoppers began in 1946 with the last converted in 1953. Many of the hoppers retired by the late 1950's with the last hopper being taken out of interchange service in 1977. Some remained longer in company service...George Dutka

The panels are installed and the old style brake system has been changed out with a resin wheel and housing. I am thinking the wheel looks a bit thick. I may change it out with a Kadee model before painting.

Note all the nice grabs and wire details that Bob had added to his model. He has also added all the piping to the brake system.