Monday 31 May 2021

BarMills Cigar Corner - Building Flat

My newest building flat placed into the back alley scene I built last year. I used most of the signs included but did change out one to a wholesale grocers.

The first structure that I completed from BarMills Cigar Corner is the building flat. I have already posted the finished model photos and what is in the box. Here is some under construction views...George Dutka 

The basic construction is done. One sees the building flat is not a true flat...it has some depth to it.

The flat does not have any backing included. I used some available card stock on my kits back.

Brick mortar is applied to some areas of the wall. I used car primer brown for the basic wall color. The concrete is done with gray and white acrylic dollar store paints. 

The brick work is toned down with two tones of PanPastel's.

The wood structure is attached to the main and the signage is next to be applied.

Here is how the building flat when I thought I was finished. The brick mortar stood out a bit more than I wanted it to. I went over these areas with more PanPastel browns and all is well. The lead photo is the finished look. The power meter is from an ITLA kit.


Sunday 30 May 2021

CN 149 Komoka Detector

CN 149 westbound between the detector and Frank Lane "A" frame wooden bridge on May 25, 2021. I used a slate filter which takes most of the color out of the photo making it almost B&W.

Railfanning is getting more difficult with our grand-kids home schooling during lock-down and yes grandparents are the school teachers most days now.

As it turned out this day both express container trains CN 148 and 149 passed each other at Komoka which would not have made for a nice shot. I was stationed just east of Komoka on the Strathroy Sub. at the detector with the "A" frame Frank Lane bridge in the background. It was already humid out shortly after 9am making telephoto shooting a bit of a problem with haze not to mention the shadows from the overgrowth. I played around using the computer filters the other day to change the tone of the photo...enjoy...George

Saturday 29 May 2021

Weathering and Painting

I really like using these tones of Anita's acrylic paints on my structures. They are a great value which I purchased at Hobby Lobby in Pt. Huron, Michigan a few years ago. They are a great deal when on sale for way under a dollar a bottle. From left to right they are charcoal, woodsy smoke, bark brown, rusty red, earth brown and rainy day gray.

A few views of some of the paints and powders I use on my models. I am trying to stay away from the smelly stuff as much as possible...George Dutka  

If one is going to only purchase one weathering powder product this four pack of Bragdon powders is the one to consider. I think I have shown you this before but it is my go-to weathering. I can't remember a project that this plastic box has not been on the workbench for. Oh that is the front section of the BarMills building flat.

Dollarama located here in Ontario has a nice line of large bottles of Acylic paint for a dollar. These are my go-to bottles.


Friday 28 May 2021

O.V.Hooker - Calling it Done

CV 4551 is just pulling down to the south end of Waterbury Yard to do some switching. The hopper will be spotted at the coal dealer in the background.

 A New Scene For Waterbury....by Don Janes

     A few weeks ago I shared some photos of the O.V. Hooker structure I built for my Waterbury, Vt. scene.  At that time I had just finished the structure and placed it in the layout.  Over the last  couple of weeks I worked on finishing the surrounding scenery and adding some more details.  I think I can just about call the scene finished.  You will note I said just about since we all know there are always a few more details that one can add to "finish" a scene.  
     This was a very challenging kit to build but I thoroughly enjoyed the build.  I have always loved building SRMW kits but unfortunately this is the last one I had to build and since Bob retired a few years ago there will be no more new ones so if I want to get another I will have to look around at sites such as eBay to see if I can find another one.  At this point I don't really have any more room for any more large structures unless I pull an existing building out and add a new one. I did add an old auto repair shop at the end of the road to add a little more interest.  I believe it is a modified Pikestuff kit i did years ago. 
     So, here are a few photos of the finished structure placed into the layout.   

I added a small drainage ditch between the road and the tracks.


A few shots of the structure. 

This small auto repair shop is where all the locals go to get their vehicles fixed

One final shot of 4551 working at Waterbury

Thursday 27 May 2021

GMD Recollections - Birds of a Feather

ATSF 4030 was one of 40 standard cab GP60 units built for Santa Fe.  It was being exercised on the GMD test track on July 31, 1989.
By Peter Mumby.

The GP60 was the final four axle road switcher model ("Geep") produced by General Motors.  This locomotive was produced over the years 1985-1994.  Southern Pacific placed the largest order, acquiring 195 copies of the standard cab version.  Fully 95 of these were lettered for subsidiary Cotton Belt (SSW).  Santa Fe (ATSF) went for the variety pack, which consisted of 40 standard cab units, 23 GP60B models, and 63 of the wide cab GP60M type.  Today's photos feature two examples from near the middle of the production run. 

SP 9753 was being checked out on the test track on June 19, 1991.



 

Tuesday 25 May 2021

What's in the Box No. 49

The difference between ITLA kits and many of the other manufacturers is the engineering, no plastic or metal...all the parts and details are made of wood and fit together perfectly.

Albany Manufacturing by ITLA was their Albany Fine Scale Expo kit back in 2018. It can be built as a building flat or a full structure. It is one of their smaller industrial structures but really neat and can fit in a lot of tight spots. There is a ton of details on each wall and I would suggest it to be used as a forefront feature...George Dutka

All the sheeting is well labeled so no guessing. Note the pallets are laid out so one assembles them before removing.

Loading dock roofing and skirting is on a separate sheet.

The walls have a lot of details in them. Plaster, brick and exposed re-bar in crumbled wall sections add to the look. Once completed there are leftover details and pieces for future builds. The instruction sheet is not seen in these photos but the color photos really help locate the detail locations and their final look.


Monday 24 May 2021

May Calendar

CN WB 397 May 10, 2021

Bruce Douglas sends out a monthly calendar he makes up. This month he used one of my railfan photos taken on the Strathroy Sub. at the Komoka area hot box detector...George Dutka  

Sunday 23 May 2021

BarMills Building Flat Completed

My new BarMills kit was a nice build that has no difficult features to construct.

I decided to skip from "what is in the box" to the finished model. I will show you some construction photos later...enjoy...George Dutka 

The new building flat is just placed in my back alley scene. It will find a new home shortly once a few more buildings are completed to make a scene.

I left enough foreground in the back alley scene so I can stage structures and vehicles for photo shoots.

The BarMills kit is not a true building flat. As one can see there is some depth to this structure which is nice to have especially if placed on an angle.


Saturday 22 May 2021

Railfan - Tom Nelligan

CP 937 is about to depart north from St Johnsbury. This train is destined for Windsor, Ontario on Aug 6, 1967.

If you are a fan of New England railroading I am sure you have seen Tom Nelligan's photo work back in the 1970's and 1980's. He also has published a number of books on New England subjects. As a Canadian when he published a book on VIA I had to get it as I love how he composes his photos. I had corresponded over the past couple of years with Tom for permission to post his photos on this blog and for more information. He has a lot of knowledge about New England. I was surprised to find out through an e-mail thread began by Jim Dufour that Tom had passed away at age 70 on April 9, 2021. 

It appears that Tom had been battling cancer for the past two years. His major contributions to on-line rail photo sites now makes sense. It had been a long time since I had seen any of Tom's work then about 2017 one could find photos everywhere. One site has almost 1200 photos. I think this is great that he put in the effort to share so much of his work. I think we can all learn from this as we age. Maybe we should begin looking through what photos we have and begin posting some of the good stuff...because if we don't our kids will just file it somewhere, most likely the landfill and computer files deleted. Tom was a big minor league baseball fan, maybe we all can hoist a drink in Tom's honor while watching a game...George Dutka

This was a venture into Canadian Railroads by Tom.

One of my favourite books offered by Tom Nelligan.

The NH has been gone for three years when Tom took this photo of PC 33 at Walpole, Ma, The station was built in 1883. The train is headed to Franklin in May 1972.
The Montrealer is pulling down for its station stop in St. Albans, Vermont. A crew change will take place here. The Canadian crew is seen in the foreground on Sept 28, 1979.



Friday 21 May 2021

Westboro - Freight House

The area at Westboro that the freight house resides is small. The siding is actually just a staged location on the dock side although cars can be spotted on the other side...on the shop track.


 A few more views of my BEST freight shed in use at my Westboro location. One can build your own using the now available Motrak kit...George Dutka  

I detailed my freight shed platform. In hindsight I should have modeled the doors open for more interest.

It is kind of nice to know that additional freight sheds are available if required from Motrak...although my next version might be a scratch-built version.


A lot of Aberdeen Car Shops crates are added to the Classic Metal models truck, platform and boxcar. I also added one of the crate sides to the truck for a logo. This fall scene sure views a lot of Canadian furnaces and water heaters that will be greatly appreciated as the climate changes.


Thursday 20 May 2021

Throwback Thursday - Hyde Park Revisited.



Don McQueen made this excellent picture on October 17, 1965.  Presumably he was primarily interested in the CN steam excursion train which was about to head up the Exeter Sub, but it also provides us with a good view of the Hyde Park station site.

By Peter Mumby.
In his post of May 18, 2021 entitled "SWO Railfanning Locations," George made reference to the location formerly known as CN Hyde Park.  Situated at mile post 4.1 of the double tracked Strathroy Subdivision in the west end of London, Ontario, it is easily visible from the Hyde Park Road overpass.  In days gone by this location had an easy road access, but now it is surrounded by a housing development and a short hike is required if you wish to duplicate George's photos.

Hyde Park was established as the junction between the east/west Strathroy Sub and the north/south Exeter Sub.  Southbound trains off the Exeter Sub would swing onto the north track at the junction.  At this point there was a cross-over leading onto the south track, permitting easy access to London Yard.  This was a manually-operated cross-over, and periodically a switch tender was assigned to this spot when one of the main line tracks was out of service or other operational concerns prevailed.  Originally there was a station building opposite the junction, and a short passing siding ran off the south track behind the station.  Today's photo featuring the CNR steam excursion shows the station and how it was situated relative to the early two lane Hyde Park Road overpass.  This mid-1960s view looks to the east.

The other photo, from 1981, looks to the west.  The Exeter Sub swings off to the right.  In the middle left the short passing track can be seen where it rejoins the south main.  The building at the lower left is the switch tender's shack.  It was equipped with a stove for those chilly winter days.  The visible signal would have been operated by the switch tender.  It displays a green signal, so probably no one was on duty at that time ( more regarding this signal below). The January 30 2020 post entitled "Incident at Hyde Park" includes a photo taken from almost the same position if you wish to see how the location appeared in 1995.  By that time the Exeter Sub had been severed and was being operated as a spur only.  Today the junction, passing siding, and cross-over are all gone, meaning that Hyde Park has disappeared from the railway map.  Although trackage for the southern part of the Exeter Sub has all been lifted, the northern part still exists today as part of the Goderich-Exeter Railway.

The green signal Peter is referring to is actually a train order signal. It has been a long time since I used train orders and I was not sure if this signal was to be always lit up. I don't remember seeing a light on there when I passed, but it could have been out of service by then. I should also mention these operators sheds had dual use. Working as a switch tender when CN trains where single tracked this was a location one could be stationed. The following comment are by Gary Pembleton retired operator and dispatcher (GAP)...George Dutka
 
"In this view if Hyde Park was made a temporary train order office by train order then the train order light would be left on even when there was no operator on duty. If a train crew with this train order finds it extinguished as they approach, it would be considered an imperfectly displayed signal and trains would need to stop and be given a clearance to proceed."




In this September 1981 view we get a good look at the station name sign for Hyde Park.  Passenger trains were a good length in that era, and today's train required three units.  Look closely and you will see that the first few cars are of Reading Crusader heritage.  These stainless steel cars had been sold to CNR in 1962. Mark Hinsdale photo, George Dutka collection.






Tuesday 18 May 2021

SWO Railfanning Locations

CP 235 WB approaches the Denfield overhead wooden bridge on May 10, 2021. Note the CN double track location to the right of the photo.

Recently Peter Mumby and I took a few photos from locations we have not photographed in years...decades. 

In Southwestern Ontario (SWO) a popular photo place for most rail buffs west of London is Denfield Rd were one has CN and CP tracks parallel each other. It is great place for train watching but I don't normally head here only because it is not great these days for photographs on sunny days. The CN two track mainline is shaded in both directions with the buildup of trees and shrubs, although one can still get a sunny shot of a CP train. CP trains are far and few though. With a WB CP approaching shortly this day we headed to Denfield for a shot from the overhead wooden bridge...the first in years.

CN Hyde Park is not that far away from Denfield and a location we had not been to in decades as a subdivision has been built around the location and the old road one used is now gone. I realized awhile back that there is a trail walkway from inside the subdivision which takes one near the tracks and a short access road is also there for CN to get track side...just a short hike for us old guys. Peter and I caught the two VIA passenger trains here...not a bad morning checking out locations from our past...George Dutka 

VIA 72 approaches the old station site of Hyde Park. The telephone pole in the weeds to the right is the old right-of-way for the Exeter Sub. Although this area is getting built up in London, Ontario this particular scene looks rural. May 10, 2021

Peter and I climbed the bank for a higher elevaton view of VIA 71 which had just passed under the Hyde Park Rd. bridge. On the other side of this bank is a newer subdivision and walking trail. May 10 2021. Years ago a station sat in the open area next to the train.


Monday 17 May 2021

What's in the Box No. 48

This kit includes a couple examples of structures found on George Sellios Franklin & South Manchester layout.

I had ordered the BarMills Christmas kit Cigar Corner which includes a nice group of kits. I thought this grouping of kits were kind of neat and some would work well on my layout and back alley dioramas that I am building. The first one I began on is the building flat which had a bit of dimension then a basic flat.

What I like about this BarMills kit is each building is in a separate bag or bags including bracing. This building has a tag marked as "background building" making it easy to locate all is needed for construction. My recent FOS big kit has all the parts in the same bag...more like a puzzle where one needs the diagram to locate what is needed for each structure...George Dutka

All that is included in the building flat sealed package.

A closer look at what is included. This kit is not all that hard to complete.


Sunday 16 May 2021

Ex-BEST Freight House - Motrak Models

The Motrak Model web site freight house photo of the Applewood Depot.

Motrak now offers a freight house separately from its general store kit. At $45.00 I think it is well priced. It once was part of the Pittsfield, Ma. Expo kit offered by BEST. I covered the BEST freight house included with Elwell general store in a post on March 1, 2014 and also in a second post, What's in the Box No. 6, February 18, 2014. One can use the search feature at the bottom right of the viewing  bar.

The model is really nice once finished and includes a double wall feature which makes it very strong...not needing any bracing...George Dutka 

This is the BEST model that I completed back in 2014 and added to my Westboro scene. It is a really nice little kit that will work well in any New England scene.