Throwback Thursday - CN London Reclamation Yard, Part Two

This mobile shear stands ready for the call to duty on June 23, 1991.

By Peter Mumby.

In today's post we will take a second peek over the fence into the Reclamation Plant.  Hopefully, modellers will notice a few details of interest.  There were a few structures on the property, but the bulk of the work was done outdoors.  Given that these photos date to the late 1980s and early 1990s, it should not be too surprising that the bulk of the cars in for dismantling are 40 foot steel boxcars.

CN 50480 is one of two railway cranes on the premises on February 23, 1991.  In the foreground we can check up on some typical under frame detail.

Forty foot boxcars are definitely the flavour of the day on February 23, 1991.  Note the scale house in the middle of the scene.

Safety yellow highlights the scaffold used by workers in the dismantling process.  This photo dates to December of 1987.

Note the fire hose carefully wound up near the midpoint of the under frame.  To the left of this hose the notation "Pumper No. 1" is stenciled.  This plant fire car is also decked out in a "Have a Nice Day" smiley face on the near end.  This car initiated the year's railfanning for me on January 01, 1989.

Wordless Wednesday No. 373

CV Station - South Royalton, Vermont

CV South Royalton, Vermont May 1964. Scanned from the collection I purchased from George Melvin. I have had a lot of time lately for scanning of photos.

Walthers - Loading Dock

The finished Walthers loading ramp with a few BEST details applied that are excess from the BEST Rockingham Jct. frt. house I just completed.

On my visit to Don's last week he gave me an excess loading dock. A Walthers kit he has came with two ramps and he only used one. I have a spot the ramp and dock fits really well without any cutting. Here is what I did...George Dutka

The loading dock spur.

The supports are all glued in place. The end beam is about to be glued on. I used Walthers Goo to attach these parts. The supports I cut into with my hobby knife to give a grain appearance.

I added a kick plate along all the edges using strip wood. I also added bolt casting to the tops.

I began by applying a coat of Floquil grime using a brush. Once dry a coat of india ink-alcohol mix is applied. Next a dry brushing of Floquil reefer white is added.

I did some streaking with AK pencils gun metal (blackish coloring) and dirty white randomly on the deck. PanPastels are now applied. First raw umber shade (dirty colour) then neutral gray (light colour) and neutral gray extra dark (dark colour). Some highlights are added with PanPastel white. Lastly AK slimy grime dark  (green moss colouring) is sponged on the side areas and ramp.

The bolts are dabbed with Floquil rust followed with Bragdon bright rust streaking.  I also added some wheel marks with Black PanPastels on the ramp. Normally the ramp is added to the ends of the loading dock. For my area I need the ramp to be used on the side.

A Sunny Day Railfanning

VIA #72 arrives at Mt. Brydges at the main crossing, Railroad St. and Adelaide Rd. Mt. Brydges has got on board with the heritage looking signs. This turned out to be my first stop on my way to Don Janes.

And now for post three for today. Last week I was out a couple of times railfanning. One was a drive along CN Strathroy Sub to Sarnia to visit Don. There really is not a lot running lately so it is a surprise to see anything other than VIA. VIA has only one train each way a day between Toronto and Windsor, #72 and #75 and one each way to Sarnia via the Guelph sub. I planned my trip to Sarina with a stop at Mt. Bridges to get a shot of VIA 72.

If you remember last weeks post by Don and his striping on his lift-out, duck-under. He is actually following the prototype. This bridge on the Chatham Sub. at the approach signal to Komoka I think has been hit more than once.

My day began with my wife wondering if I should  be making the trip to Sarnia...remember we are locked down. We are only allowed to go out for groceries, the drug store and doctors appointments in Ontario. Railfanning is not mentioned on the list along with country drives. She also mentioned stay away from River Rd as on Facebook she said they have been giving tickets out to guys fishing there and it is near the tracks.

I broke all the rules, I left to visit Don and began by a side trip down River Rd. As I approached the CN crossing (CP is a quarter miles away also) I see a young 20ish gentleman with a scanner and video camera on a tripod at the crossing. Looking at the signals they are greens on both tracks. I pulled over the crossing and began to head for the shoulder. As I did that a cop car was coming over the crossing the other way and sure enough stopped at the rail fan....guess what, I just kept going. This is one of two stops this day that I came across a a cop...the other I had a Tim Hortons to head over to...don't remember Tim's on the stay at home list but that works also...George Dutka

One of the three stop made on the way home was to measure the ramp at Wyoming. There was a lot of track work seen being done that day which indicated I don't think I would see any trains. As I was about to leave a hi-rail approach the station. One can see way back in the distance a backhoe is coming back from the work area.

My last stop on my way home from Don's I note while going over the overpass I could see a headlight off in the distance. So a quick trip down Tobacco road was made. It is road to nowhere and I doubt any cops back there. The CP have a siding here where it appears used ties are being dumped. The location is called Caradoc.

VIA #72 passes the main crossing in Mt. Brydges on April 25, 2020. On the left is the old weather-beaten Vern's variety store sign. The store dates back to the 1880's. It was built as a shoe repair store later being a print shop and then a barber shop. It finally became a variety store named after a one long time owner of the building Vern Giffen. I had tried to get a similar view with the train, store sign, heritage Railroad St. sign and lotto sign on my way to Don's but a big truck pulled up front of the variety store just as the gates started down. I went for plan B the lead photo of this post. Boy it seem's like I know a lot about history in this town...guess not, there is a big old historical sign on the side of the building.

Alloy Forms - Junk Car

My finished rusted out hulk looking for a spot now on the WRD.

This is the last of my Alloy Forms junk cars. I began by just giving it a coat of Floquil rust. The captions tell the rest of the story.

To begin the story I visited Don this past week...me on his lawn and Don on his front porch, really odd these days. We had a few items to exchange such as the AK rust coloured pencils he picked up for me when he was in Arizona. I could not find any here and to order them, they are sold out. These I used on this auto as a test..George Dutka

Don Janes on his front porch during our visit.

My new AK weathering pencils. A note about using them...don't press hard when applying the colouring as they break very easy.

The car with Floquil rust.

My first attempt with the rust colour pencils as additional weathering. The colours are applied then a wash of water blends the tones together. I also used a silver marker to add some chrome. Some Vellejo rust effects as dark rust highlights around the wheel wells is applied. A very light coat of Bragdon  the blue's is applied as the original colouring.

Ontario plates are applied, some weeds growing through the removed floor boards and engine compartment is included. A wheel, radiator, newspapers and old plates are in the interior. I added some old chain to the engine compartment as it may have been used to lift the engine out and left behind. Some weed and a board and plywood also stuffed in there.

Here is the finished model with all the products used. The three colours used are dark rust, light rust and strong ocher. The car body is set on pieces of match sticks that are weathered up. I just wanted it to be off the ground.

GMD Recollections - Leaving Home

On January 22, 1994 Diesel Division of General Motors switcher #57 is sitting just east of the Quebec St overpass near the head end of a westbound CP freight.  Note the card in the window identifying it as EMD 57.  Just ahead of the unit in the consist are newly-delivered GP 60 locomotives SP 9792/9789; right behind it is covered hopper SLSF 78904.

By Peter Mumby

The SW9 unit in today's photo first left London when it was delivered from GMD as Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo 57 in January of 1951.  When CP assumed full control of TH&B in 1987, it was determined that the end-cab switchers would be retired during 1988. #57 was subsequently acquired by GMD, and it returned to London in the spring of 1989 to work as the plant switcher.  It operated wearing a patched TH&B paint job for the next twelve months, but was decorated in this Diesel Division scheme in time for the 40th Anniversary open house in June of 1990.  On January 22, 1994 it was leaving London once again, this time marshalled in a westbound CP freight, bound for its new assignment at the parent EMD plant.  I have a photo of this locomotive taken at the EMD 75th Anniversary open house in September of 1997, and at that time it was wearing full Electro-Motive paint and lettering.  It was still numbered as 57.

Check back later today for a second and possibly a third post...George

B&M 50' Single Door Milk Car Photos - Second Look

B&M 1920 is on display Oct 24, 1992 Warren Dodgson photo

I was going through a box of photos last week that I have from my friend Warren Dodgson. We used to take trips to New England together in the 1980's and 90's although he made a lot more trips than I did. I was raising 5 children and working the CN engineman's spare board. I had limited free time back during that era. We used to trade photos of trips we made. We both did do some solo trips to New England such as Warren's two trips to Essex, Ct recorded here. Warren lives a few blocks away although we don't see each other that much these days. Warren donated his entire photo collection and extensive research material to the Middlebury College in Vermont about 15-20 years ago if one does visits the college. Warren is totally out of modeling and historical railroad research in general. I believe some of his photos are on-line on the college web site including some of my photos that we exchanged.

I thought these detailed B&M milk car photos can help one modeling a milk car. Note the drain spouts next to the stirrups at each end in two photos. That is something one might want to try to model. I forgot all about these drain spouts till I saw Warren's photos again...George Dutka

Sept. 30, 1994, Essex, Ct. note the drain next to the stirrup. A modeling detail that would be neat to add. A nice look at the trucks on this car also.

Sept. 30, 1994 Essex, Ct. Warren Dodgson photo

Another look at the other end of the car and the water drain next to the ladder. Oct 24, 1992. Warren Dodgson photo.

Oct 24, 1992 Warren Dodgson photo.

New England Novelty Works

An early view of Bellows Crossing and the New England Novelty Works.

New England Novelty Works is a industry from the past. I built that structure back in the 1980's. Only two sides are detailed. One end and back are just sheet styrene. I am planning a new structure for this location and I have had some interest in this old structure the last few years from a modeling friend from Toronto who visits me from time to time and usually leaves with a few purchased structures that are added to his layout. He is actually building a layout here in London with his brother in their family's home. His brother lives across the street making heading over to work on the layout easy. This month was to be the first time they were opening their layout...but London's layout tour is cancelled. I was hoping to stop by and see what they been up to and see how more than 20 of my structures have been used. They have been collecting them up for a few years now...George Dutka

Two walls are scribed wood while two are styrene sheeting. This structure was originally built for a shelf layout I once had in the location of the current Bellows Falls yard.

The blank rear wall.

The structure measures 86' long, 26' wide and 30' tall at eaves and 33' at the peak. I used Floquil tuscan red for the walls and a cream colour trim and windows. The sign I made up on the computer. The roof when I built it was masking tape painted black. It began to lift so I pulled it all off easily. It actually looked pretty good as-is so I just added a bit of weathering. The outlines of the tape was still there after being on the structure for over 30 years.

The roof is made to come off the structure. Note the extra bracing to the long wall which kept it from bowing and the structure square.

One of the last shots I took of Bellows Crossing with the novelty works still in the background.

Throwback Thursday - CN London Reclamation Yard, Part One

This is the entrance to the Reclamation Yard off Hale St in London, Ontario.  The photo dates to May 10, 1991.  Apparently, when wooden cars were being cut up, local residents would have access to free firewood.

By Peter Mumby.

By the time I started paying attention to London's Reclamation Yard, it was basically being used to cut up outmoded or surplus rolling stock.  I have seen pictures from earlier times when steam locomotives and first generation diesels were being processed, but I won't be discussing what I didn't witness.  The yard was created in an era when the scrapping of railroad equipment was highly centralized.  As time wore on, more of this reclamation work was locally sourced, and the need for this large facility diminished.  The closure of this plant came about at the end of June in 1991.

The Rec Yard was situated east of the London Yard along the south side of the double track Dundas Subdivision.  The entrance to the west end was near the Hale St level crossing and the CN control point called Highbury.  Highbury (mileage 75.5) was where westbound freights left the south main to enter London Yard.  On the south side of this yard lead was a separate track that was used both for switching and for access to the reclamation facility.  To the east, the premises were bounded at mileage 74.0 by the control point known as Frauts and the Clarke Road level crossing.

In this view we are looking eastward with the Dundas Subdivision mainline tracks to the left.  The yard lead heads off the south track at Highbury near the Hale St level crossing.  The "pit track" headed across Hale St towards the Reclamation Plant on the right side of the picture, which was exposed on March 11, 2006.

In later years the Hale St level crossing was replaced by an interesting overpass which incorporated a traffic circle.  CN 2194W, #435, is about to head into London Yard off the south track of the Dundas Subdivision.  To the right of the train you can see both the pit track and the roadway which used to access the Reclamation Plant.  This activity dates to August 05, 2015.

A convenient berm along the south side of the Reclamation Yard permitted views over the fence, which at this location was fashioned from recycled boxcar doors. This was how things looked on February 23, 1991.

The camera is looking to the north east in this February 23, 1991 view.  The red trailer in the foreground probably belonged to Zubick Scrap Metals.

Wordless Wednesday No. 372

Gord Taylor photo

GMD Recollections - CN SD60F

CN SD60F # 5522 is waiting its turn to back into the GMD plant on March 08, 1989.

By Peter Mumby.

Over the years of production at the General Motors Diesel plant, most locomotives looked pretty similar to corresponding EMD-built models.  Exceptions, however, did exist.  Some were entirely unique, such as the GMD1 or the narrow gauge NF-110/NF-210 units built for use in Newfoundland.  Others were based on standard GM designs, but incorporated significant modifications in cab and/or carbody design.  Examples include CP's SD40-2F or CN's GP40-2L(W) or SD50F.  Cowl-bodied SD60F # 5522, CN class GF-638b, fits into this latter category.

5522 is prepared to head back into the plant after spending some time on the test track.  It is being delayed temporarily by the plant switcher which is yarding a group of flat cars recently delivered by CP.  These cars are all carrying 60-series long hoods for use in current construction.  The track in the photo runs north/south into the plant, while the connecting test track runs east/west beside the CP Galt Subdivision mainline.  The junction between the two lines is in a wye configuration.

Loading Ramp

This ramp and platform looks right at home on Kip Grant's layout.

Recently I was asked about loading platforms with a ramp. I had build a Pickstuff kit back in January that I posted. It is a lot larger than what I would require at the moment on the WRD. Here is a look at a few more ramps that could fit anywhere on a siding. The first ramp seen is one Kip Grant added to his layout. It is a simple but neat looking structure that adds an extra spot for dropping off a load.

Kip noted that he scratch-built his ramp. It is based on bits and pieces of prototype docks he had seen around his area. Kip models the D&H. He measured it up for me as I want to build a similar version for my layout. The dock is 16' by 24' with a 20 ft long ramp that is 10.5 feet wide.

I then asked Don about his two ramps, one that I took some phone photos of as reference. I have two spots on my layout during my ongoing rebuild that could benefit from a small ramp to spot some of the interesting loads and empties that I would like to highlight in scenes...more on this as my focus on this topic widens...George Dutka

I am hoping to add a similar ramp on my layout. It really does not take up much real estate.

This is one of the two examples of loading ramps Don Janes built for his layout. Don Janes photo

Another angle of Don's ramp. Don Janes photo

This is Don's second wooden ramp that is a Walthers offering. I am not sure if this one is still available. Don Janes photo.

I took this photo of Don's ramp on a visit last summer with my phone. It is not in place yet.

Another angle of the Walthers ramp. Don Janes photo.

Don has done a great job weathering this ramp. It is made from styrene. The overhead crane makes an excellent detail for such a site. Don Janes photo