MEC Equipment Lists

Here are a few scanned pages from the MEC listings for 1957. I am heading to Florida very early tomorrow morning so double post today...more to come while I am away...George Dutka

National Scale Car - CPR 10'6" AAR Boxcar Upgrade

The lettering and ladders are removed. The NSC ends fit perfectly on the Branchline boxcar. The roof is I think a Front Range leftover that also fit without any modifications.

I have been working on and off the last couple of months on upgrading a Yardmaster series Branchline boxcar using a National Scale Car kit. It is taking me longer than expected only because I have a lot of other projects to clean up not to mention a few articles on the go. The kit is actually made for use with an Intermountain boxcar but it appears to work really well with the Branchline car also. I am modeling mine without running boards. More to follow...George Dutka

The included ladders are applied along with the tack boards.

The door needed a bit of trimming to fit properly. One side is closed while I left the other side open a bit.

Throwback Thursday - Local Tank Cars and the London and Port Stanley Railway

HJMX 6002, part of the collection of the Port Stanley Terminal Railway, was photographed in the yard at Port Stanley.

By Peter Mumby.

Construction was started on the London and Port Stanley Railway (L&PS) in 1856.  Connecting London and St Thomas with Port Stanley on the north shore of Lake Erie, its main purpose was to facilitate international trade with the U.S.  In its early years as a steam railroad, it was controlled at various times by the Great Western Railway, the Michigan Central, and the Pere Marquette, among others.  It was electrified in the 1912-1915 era, and ownership was transferred to the City of London.  This lasted until the mid-1960s when CN took over.  CN eventually abandoned the St Thomas-Port Stanley segment, which led to the formation of the tourist line, Port Stanley Terminal Railway(PSTR).  The St Thomas-London trackage was retained as the CN Talbot Subdivision.  After the closure of the St Thomas Ford plant and the loss of the automotive traffic, this was downgraded to the Talbot Spur and operated as an extension of London Yard trackage.

So, a capsule history of the L&PS is all well and good, but what does this have to do with tank cars?  In 1950 local entrepreneur Henry Joseph McManus established a company known as Sterling Fuels.  By 1953 the tank farms at Port Stanley were added to the portfolio, and soon strings of green tank cars loaded with home heating oil were headed north towards London behind boxcab electrics.  These cars carried HJMX reporting marks, based on the owner's initials.  (How is that for an idea for those of you with a freelanced model railroad?). The car in our photo has a built date of 8/20, so this equipment had seen a lot of use prior to the 1950s.

Jump ahead a few decades and you will find that a Canada Starch Company (CASCO) plant had been established on the Talbot Subdivision near the southern edge of London.  It is still in business today, and utilizes corn syrup tanks bearing a CASCO logo and reporting marks of lease companies such as PROCOR and UTLX.  Thirty years ago CASCO product was still being shipped in 1960s vintage tank cars bearing the company's own reporting mark, CSTX; these are the car types featured in today's other photos.

CSTX 44, built new in 7/67, was resting in the CN Racecourse Yard in London on November 10, 1991.  At this time, its capacity was measured in both litres and Imperial gallons.

CSTX 46 carries the more modern version of the CASCO logo.

Wordless Wednesday No. 354

At Trainfest booth.

Trainfest Trainwatching

Duplainville, WI....by Don Janes

    

This CN freight was just starting to pull once the westbound CP train had cleared the diamond. It was long and had a DPU in the middle

Once George and I arrived in Milwaukee for Trainfest we decided to scout out the pub where we would be having supper on Sat. night.  George said it was located adjacent to the CP Rail mainline and that there was a diamond nearby.  Just as we were pulling up tp the crossing the gates went down, lights started flashing and a CP intermodal train came into sight. Right beside the crossing there was a quiet access road to a local industry and there were several cars parked along the road which we assumed were railfans so we picked a spot and parked the car and watched the train go by.  Once it cleared the crossing it came to a stop. Now, usually when a train stops on double track it means there might be an impending meet so we decided to stick around but nothing happened so we decided to head around the corner and see what was happening on the CN north/south line just north of the diamond. Just beyond the crossing at the end of the double track was a CN freight just beginning to pull. Once we got our shots and the train cleared we headed back to our original parking spot along the CP track. Sure enough, we were not disappointed and several minutes later an Amtrak train flew by at track speed. It had two units and a string of high level passenger cars in tow.

The Amtrak train was heading east and I am guessing it might have been the Empire Builder or some such name train.

    Shortly after the Amtrak cleared a northbound CN intermodal train crossed the diamond so it was back around the corner to get a few more shots. It was another long train with a DPU pushing on the rear.

This is a view of the DPU pushing on the rear of the northbound intermodal train.

   Once the CN northbound cleared it was back to the CP main.  Again, shortly after we parked the flashers started and the gates went down.  This time it was a CP freight with a CSX GE unit on the point.  These trains really move along on this stretch of track.  

This was the second CP westbound we saw headed by a CSX unit. That is our pub in the background. Now I see why the guys pick this spot to have dinner.

A going away shot of the same train.

    What to do now? It was sunny but bitterly cold so we decided to stay in the car and head back to the CN tracks.  Yet another CN southbound was sitting at the diamond.  We decided that instead of getting another shot at this location we would head back to the diamond and get a couple of shots of the CN train hitting the diamond to add a little variety to our photos. We didn't have to wait long until we heard the CN train whistling for the crossing.  It was another general freight with one unit on the point and a DPU in the middle of the train.  At that point the light was beginning to fade and it was getting colder so we headed back to our motel to have a beer and warm up then it was off to dinner with the rest of the Trainfest gang from Canada. it's funny how you travel all the way to Milwaukee and all the trains you see are Canadian, eh!

This was our third CN train in less than two hours. Here it is just hitting the diamond at Duplainville(above) and a view across the field(below)

The DPU of the third CN train crossing the CP main at Duplainville.

AK Products Models

AK features many models on their site...here are a few I really liked...who said today's modelers are old guys, some of these guys are half my age.

Starting Thursday a look at rolling stock, modeled and prototype for a few posts...George Dutka

We railroad modelers have a lot to learn from military modelers.

Modeling by Kevin Dalenti

Kevin's modeling is something to take a close look at for inspiration.

Here is some amazing modeling by Kevin Dalenti found on a few Facebook sites...George Dutka

A scratch built news paper box with newspapers which includes the modelers face on the front page. Kevin is from Belgium.

The modeled newspapers.

Not real, a modeled interior. Note the TV is on. I am not sure the scale but definitely a larger scale.

Another one of Kevin's scenes.

Modeling of Rodney Walker

This might be something one finds in older parts of town once the big industries leave.

One might think this is from Jim Sloan's layout but it is actually the work of another talented modeler, Rodney Walker. Over the next couple of days I will be posting the works of some talented modelers that have a good eye in our hobby...George Dutka

I thought this structure was really neat...maybe something to consider Nick.

Last Saturday's WOD Meet

That's Dave Harding our tour guide at the Komoka museum. It's Dave's 80th birthday also. Note that middle crest on his bag...that is the Jumbo Jamboree 71 NFR convention held in St. Thomas. Dave's covered a lot of ground over the years.

The Western Ontario Division of the NFR - NMRA held the second meet of the season. This time in the London area with Dick Walker and I opening up our layouts. We also had the Komoka Ry. museum opened up for us which is about 10 minutes away. The evening was a hands-on workshop assembling small details many had not tried before...George Dutka

Dave takes us through the shay outbuilding checking out all the railroad artifacts. Can you pick Peter out.

A Bar Mills fence assembled and stained. I had a paint and stain station setup for our group to try some newer products including PanPastels.

We had Bar Mills fences in HO, O and N scale for everyone to try assembling. Not everyone has ever tried these neat details. We had Osborn, FOS, Aberdeen Car shops, Tichy and Bar Mills details to construct.

I assembled a few Simpson's boxes in HO and O scale. Some are modeled open with crushed boxes stuffed inside. I got the idea when I could not get one of the boxes tops to seal properly.

One of our members has two Aberdeen boxes completed and a couple of Osborn barriers together.

Lime Rock Ry. - Rockland, Maine

No. 4 0-4-0ST Rockland, Maine Aug 1937 Stanley Prescott photo blt Baldwin 1905.

A few views I recently scanned of Lime Rock Ry. from the collection I purchased...George Melvin collection...enjoy...George Dutka

No. 6 0-4-0 gas, Rockland, Maine Stanley Prescott photo Nov. 1936 blt. by Plymouth 1928.

Lime Rock No. 3 0-6-0, Rockland, Maine 1907, blt. 1900 scrapped 1928 Stanley Prescott photo.

Lime Rock No. 1 0-4-2ST Rockland, Maine 1935. Blt. by HK Porter.

Throwback Thursday - Crew Change at Kelly Lake

BCOL 4611 South is holding the main at Kelly Lake BC on August 12, 2002.  With freight engineer Garry Chubb in the foreground, the Southbound Cariboo Prospector is just pulling out of the back track.  Everyone will soon be aboard, and heading for Lillooet.

By Peter Mumby.

With North Vancouver considered as mile 0, the passing siding at Kelly Lake is situated at mile 192.2.  A stub-ended back track also runs off the passing track, meaning that it is possible for three trains to meet at this location. 

On August 12, 2002, I was on site as BCOL 4611 South rolled to a stop on the mainline near the south siding switch.  The crew had run out of time, and a replacement crew would soon arrive aboard the southbound Cariboo Prospector, British Columbia Railway's Prince George - North Vancouver passenger train.  With Budd car BC-30 in the lead, the passenger train approached my position by the siding switch.  The new freight crew detrained and then the equipment reversed into the back track.  Apparently we were going to see at least one more train before this meet was over.

As a matter of fact, two northbound trains put in an appearance before the Cariboo could continue on towards Lillooet, its next stop.  Freight train BCOL 4620 North was followed by 1700 North, the Whistler Northwind tourist train.  The Budd cars then exited the back track, and the original freight crew climbed aboard.  Since Kelly Lake was a flag stop, I was able to get on with them.  My friend was willing to pick me up at Lillooet (MP 157.6), so this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The Whistler Northwind lasted only a couple of seasons as a BCR tourist train.  The Cariboo Prospector made its last run on October 31, 2002, as all BCR passenger service, with the exception of a local school train, came to an end.  No wonder that I enjoyed my Kelly Lake experience so much!

Wordless Wednesday No. 353

Polka Dot Diner

AHM Station - Farmington

I was really suprised how well this project turned out. The walls are spraybombed Camo Coat Olive from Home Hardware and the roof is flat black, 99 cents from Walmart in Michigan. An old Grayhound sign is seen leaning against the wall...could the station have been dual use at some point. Some newspapers are scattered around.

At Trainfest I completed weathering three pieces of rolling stock and also weather and detail this AHM station. At my workstation most of my projects involved PanPastels and acrylic dollar store paint...George Dutka

The walls are coated with PanPastel Raw Umber shade while the windows are a light PanPastel gray. I also used these two colours on the roof but two other tones of gray are also applied. The chimney has some acrylic brown applied before pastels are applied. The Western Union sign Don Janes gave me copies of years ago. A Juneco milk can, some other signs and a crates finish the scene.

The door got a bit of brown to vary the colouring a bit. The boarded up window is from my Roomettes detail sheet that has various plywood sheeting. Some posters are applied to the rear also. The base was brush painted a concrete tone of gray prior to weathering. I just mixed black and white till I got the right tone. I did not take much paint with me to Trainfest so mixing was required most of the time. I did not take all my PanPastels or any Bragdon powders, so finishes turned out a bit different than the norm.

The station sign is actually photocpied from an old Maine two footer station kit I have. Another project at some point...have had it for over 20 years now. Farmington is a town that is found in many states.