ITLA Toolshed

A light coat of PanPastels in the brown tone is applied to the color painted on earlier.

A few of views from how my weathering on the toolshed came together...George Dutka   

PanPastel raw umber shade is applied to the interior wall.

A wash of AK rust streaks is applied to the lower areas.

A look inside the completed shed. The roofing is also weathered using dry brushed acrylic dollar store white and a light coat of PanPastel raw umber shade.

Hindsight Next Weekend

 

 

Canadian Prairies - The Dairy Pool

Biggar, Saskatchewan 1942. Here is a look at milk operations in the Canadian prairies. I don't see a rail siding but there is a large loading platform loaded with what I think would be empty milk cans ready for farmer pickups...George Dutka  

ITLA Lineside Tool Shed

I built my ITLA tool shed with a removable roof. Note the BEST pigeon added to the rafters.

Here we have a couple of views of my version of the ITLA tool shed that our WOD-NMRA group built in January and February 2022 as a build along. I decided to add an interior this time and removable roof...George Dutka 

A look inside my shed. Lots of Tichy detail parts and kind of messy. My gang are not all that organized.

Throwback Thursday - Modern ETR Van

Essex Terminal Railway 1600 was photographed on September 16, 2004 at Lincoln Avenue in Windsor, Ontario.

By Peter Mumby. 

Essex Terminal Railway 1600 was a relatively modern van of obvious CP heritage.  It was assembled in 1979 by CP Angus Shops as CP434638, and acquired by ETR in 1990.  In 2014 it was transferred to Waterloo Central Railway as their number 1042.  Essex Terminal had a second example of this type of caboose, and it followed a similar career trajectory, specifically from CP 434530 to ETR 1610 to WCR 1040.

Wordless Wednesday No. 464

 

1940

 

February Update

Why have I cropped and am showing you this B&M section shed at Ayer, Ma. I found it interesting how this structure looks well worn with almost no paint in 2008. This would make a great model project. Note the windows are covered over and the tar-paper on the roof patched in locations. I believe it is now gone.

To start off I find I cannot comment on my posts for some reason following visitors comments. I hope to figure this out, but for now if you find I am not answering your questions...just send me an e-mail.

There has been a lot going on in my personal life lately that has taken me away from modeling and railfanning. Here is a bit of an update. First off my CN railroader father-in-law passed away last month at the age of 95. He was the last from his era alive in London. My 96 year old mother-in-law is still around and still in her own home requiring a lot of our time now. I also had my hernia operation this month that I had been waiting almost a year for. It came up last minute when a cancellation occurred which also slowed me down. 

Post will be spotty for a bit as I have not done any modeling since mid January. All my projects are put on hold...looks like next winter might be when I get at updating the engines and rolling stock I have laid out for this winter. Once I get back to modeling I want to finish the areas of the WRD that are apart. I had hoped to work these projects into the winter mix of things. Here are a few photos of this and that I want to share with you...George Dutka 

Part of my fleet of vehicles used regularly on my layout. For more about these check out the April issue of RMC.

My father-in-law was an engineman during the steam era working his way up to CN master mechanic which is the guy in-charge of the engineman. At one point before he retired he was my boss. This photo was taken by my friend Chris Martin who was in the engineering department in 1984 when the photo was taken. Jake is in front of the London Aux train in the London station. Not sure what the occasion was but I am thinking it was on display.

This is a photo of my friend Bruce Douglas watching the action of the GEXR in Goderich, Ont. That is the salt mine entrance in the distance. This photo was taken by another friend Gord Taylor who I have mentioned and posted photos from in the past. Jan. 11, 2011.

This structure looks really neat. I believe it is in St. Louis and I think it is something Barry at the Roomettes web site posted. Maybe a new kit in the works? It is something one can do to any building.

I took this photo last fall. My Borden's creamery that has been in use for years on my layout and on other modules decades earlier, rests on the plans found in a 1960's issue of RMC. I used these feed mill plans as the base for my creamery. I built it back in the early 1980's. It has been back to the workbench at least once for an upgrade.

CV Jordan Spreader - Prototype

Not sure who passed along this view of a CV spreader, but one can see the paint is well worn from lots of use. The file is small but there appears to be some information on the bottom.

A couple of photos of the CV spreader prototype in black with noodle...George Dutka   

This view must be from later in life than the one above.

My version of the CV spreader.

Modeling a Winter Scene

The finished winter scene with a Walthers water thank placed in the scene. I thought the dollar store products were really effective in modeling this scene.

Back in December I worked on a winter scene which is a version of what I saw on a home day TV show. I used a sheet of Styrofoam which I painted white, then added some track at an angle. I used a variety of dollar store finds. Some worked while others not so much. Here is what I learned...George Dutka 

The dollar store stock that I was going to use to complete the winter scene. I also purchased Woodland Scenic snow which really was not required. I was originally going to light up the snow and trees as they did on the TV show but I think it looks best without this feature.

The painted Styrofoam. It is a one foot square piece.

This snow blanket was the most effective product I used next to the snow covered trees. I also used a bit of late fall tall static grass and a piece of fencing prior to adding the covering.

My spreader and FOS interlocking tower is set in the winter scene which was an easy build.

Throwback Thursday - C&O International Service Cabooses

C&O International Service caboose number 904111 put in an appearance at St Thomas, Ontario on August 22, 1988.

By Peter Mumby

C&O International Service cabooses could be identified by the blue rectangle with white lettering which appeared under the car number below the bay window.  I was unable to read what it said but Don McQueen was able to zoom in on the panel and decipher the wording for me.  C&O 904111 was lettered as follows:

"International service caboose

  must be returned to Detroit

  International service."

The wording on number 904125 was a little different:

"International service caboose

  In US and Canada service

  must be returned to Detroit."

I don't know how many cabooses were marked in this fashion, but I found photos in my collection of three more examples, specifically 904109, 904121, and 904156. 

C&O 904125 was spotted in front of the CASO station in St Thomas.  Photo by Don McQueen.

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 463

 

  

Snow Fencing

VIA 72 passes a snow fence in the Komoka, Ont. area, Feb. 12, 1991

I am not sure if I showed you this photo before. I was going through some old scanned views a few weeks back when I found this view showing snow fencing. This is something we have not seen much in our area the last decade or two. Normally one would have seen snow fencing that rolled up once the season was over but this one is made up of what appears to be skids...George Dutka 

Modeling Keen's Gas

I used most of the signage included in the kit. The front window is modeled clear...I normally flat finish the glaze or the glass.

A few more views of FOS Keen's Gas during construction...George Dutka  

This is a simple kit with minimal parts included in the kit.

The walls and base are being assembled.

I added some highlights to some of the boards using AK pencils.

Keen's Gas Pump

The finished gas pump which was colored using MIG paints. The yellow is actually one of their rust colors.

The pump included with FOS kit, Keen's Gas is kind of a neat looking wooden buildup...George Dutka 

The pump is built up of all wood pieces. FOS suggests a wire piece for the hose running to the handle. A really easy build which looks great once completed.

FOS - Keen's Gas

The completed FOS kit with the stencil I made.

FOS Keen's Gas is viewed on the kit information sheet with roof stenciling. There was no stencil included so my friend Jim Sloan came up with a straighten out version for me to size. It did not take much to get the stencil to fitting the model. Thanks Jim. I cut it out quickly without a straight edge to see if stencils really need to be well aligned since I only use stipple brushes and sponges. It appears they work out well even with flaws in the cutout...George Dutka 

Throwback Thursday - FP9, Eh?

A clean pair of FP9A locomotives lead Via number 73 away from the London station on March 11, 1988.

By Peter Mumby

The FP9A was a late-1950s passenger locomotive designed and produced by General Motors.  Since there was no corresponding "FP9B," the "A" component of the model designation may seem superfluous, so in some quarters you will see it referred to simply as "FP9."  EMD assembled 32 units (mostly for export), while GMD accounted for 54 copies.  Of these GMD units, 11 were built for CP, while 43 joined CN's roster.  Construction was spread out over the 1954-1958 time frame.  Most of these Canadian-built units were eventually transferred to Via Rail, becoming the backbone of that carrier's early locomotive fleet.

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 462

 

1941

 

Snapshot - February 2022

A train headed from Prince Albert to Winnipeg River, Saskatchewan on 6-1-44.

 Shipping Cattle in the 1940's

For this months snapshot we are looking at a small group of photos from Saskatchewan which is related to the livestock industry during the 1940's...George Dutka  

Prince 1944

Each car has a shippers report listing what is aboard. This form is from 1948...does you cattle cars have a similar billing for the layout.

Early B&M Brookside Milk Car Models

Very nicely built and detailed models from a RPM meet.

Glenn Annis sent along this photo of two B&M Brookside milk car models that he had on file from an out west  RPM meet. I don't have any other information regarding the cars but I noted the roof pitch are a bit more flatter than the Train Miniature models and the length is a bit shorter...George Dutka 

GMD Recollections - Road Trip

 

With a day of testing on the Strathroy Subdivision ahead of them, GO 522/521 are waiting for the Via train to pass by so they can pull on to the Guelph Subdivision and head down to London Junction.  If you look carefully, you can see that the paint work on the 521 is incomplete.

By Peter Mumby.

Rail access to the north side of the GMD plant was off the CN Guelph (formerly, Thorndale) Subdivision.  In today's photo we see GO F59PH locomotives 522 and 521 waiting at the north end of the siding.  As soon as the Via train visible in the distance has passed, the pair will be able to venture onto the mainline and head down to London Junction.  Normally locomotives would just be tested on the test track on the south side of the plant, but on this particular day the units are headed towards Strathroy on the Strathroy Subdivision for a more extensive outing.  At this time there still existed a spur track west of the Strathroy station which the units could use to clear the main any time a through freight was in the vicinity.  521 and 522 were just the second and third examples of this brand new model, so this might explain the need for a more thorough testing and evaluation regimen.  GO units 520-561 were built between 1988 and 1990; the testing sequence described above took place on July 29, 1988.

 

CV Jordan Spreader - Walthers Model

The completed spreader prior to weathering. I did paint the wheels dollar store cinnamon brown.

Some more views of my CV spreader. The lettering was done with a CDS CV caboose dry transfer noodle and the numbering is a mix of CN and CV caboose data. I just rubbed it on clear decal paper, then applied to the model. Light rusting was applied. This turned out to be an easy project once I tracked down the dry transfers that would work...George Dutka 

The rust highlights are started with an light application of MIG dry brush rust. I then followed up with these three PanPastels.

The small lettering I taped over prior to giving the model a light overspray of Floquil grimy black. The CN logo and numbering was scrubbed off prior to painting.

CV Jordan Spreader

My Walthers spreader began as a CN unit. The lettering was removed then a CV noodle was applied.

A couple of views of my recently completed CV spreader. Don Janes posted about his 1950's version last year and in the current CVRHS Ambassador. Here is my view of one from the 1960's and onward on the WRD...George Dutka

Mine looks clean with limited rust. Photos I have seen of this unit shows heavy rust while in the noodle scheme.

Throwback Thursday - Superintendent's Car

CN Superintendent's car 61200 was at rest in the Kamloops North yard on July 18, 1989.

By Peter Mumby.

CN had a small group (61200-61202) of what were called "superintendent's cars."  Built in 1976/77, they were similar in outline to the flat-top transfer vans of that era.  These cars were all assigned to the Mountain Region, as follows:  61200 - Kamloops, 61201 - Prince George, and 61202 - Edmonton.  Today's photos feature the 61200 at its home base in Kamloops, British Columbia, in the summer of 1989. 

The opposite end of the 61200 was photographed on July 09, 1989.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 461