Throwback Thursday - Georgia (Southwestern) On My Mind

GSWR 2127 is leading three other units down the hill towards Goderich Harbour on July 30, 1999.

By Peter Mumby.

From its inception in 1992 until the year 2000, Goderich Exeter Railway was part of the RailTex group of short lines.  During this time frame most of the motive power in use was identified as belonging to GEXR, although periodically units lettered for other component lines would put in an appearance.  Such was the case with today's featured locomotive, GSWR (Georgia Southwestern Railroad) number 2127.  Accompanied by GEXR 3834, 4161, and 177, the unit is descending the hill towards Goderich Harbour, where today's group of loaded salt hoppers will be picked up.

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 482

 

   

Snapshot - June 2022

Corner of Pall Mall and Richmond St. 1935. Note the CPR coach behind the Supertest station. There was a streetcar line down Richmond St.

This months snapshot is of the Supertest Head Office and service station once located on the northeast corner of Richmond and Pall Mall street just south of the Canadian Pacific rail line and in view of the London CP station. Supertest was a London company which began in 1923 and operated until the early 1970's. For many decades, the large neon sign and clock were a familiar landmark for those who traveled past 660 Richmond Street. At night the 18-foot neon sign alternated between 'Supertest Wonder Gasoline' and 'Canada's Finest'. The clock had state of the art precision and automatically adjusted itself to the correct time each hour on the hour. It was so accurate that it was rumored that Canadian Pacific train engineers set their watches by it. The large sign and clock were installed about 1938 and were removed in the early 1970's after Supertest was acquired by British Petroleum (BP). The building was later demolished in 1989 and this location is now home to Jack Astor's....George Dutka    

The CPR station was just beyond this location.

 

Great Lakes Region CN Trainmaster Trainee's 1979

In this photo one can see Morris Fisher, bottom left, Norm Davies, back row second from right with Kim Hum, next at extreme right. Jim Blunt is bottom right.

My friend Andy passed this CN facebook view of a group of CN trainmaster trainee's from 1979. He did not give me any details at first about the photo. It looked like a bunch of 1970's era's guys in a random group photo. Later he explained the view. I thought some of the CN employees that follow this blog would get a kick out if it. Following the explanation I took a closer look at the group and did recognize a few in the group that became supervisors here in London, Ontario over the years...George Dutka 

CN Woodchip Car - The Athearn Approach

Athearn boxcars converted to woodchip cars.

Peter Mumby dropped off his fleet of CN woodchip cars for a photo shoot last week. He brought along his two Athearn versions he had purchased years ago at a swap meet. Peter and I built our cars using Front Range models which have the roofs not attached in the kit which works well to built woodchip cars. The modeler of the Athearn car would have had to cut off the roof. He did a nice job and the cars are a nice addition to Peter's fleet...George Dutka 

Spring This and That!

Lisbon NH, Roger Robar photo

Just a bit of whatever crossed my computer screen the past couple of week or was on my workbench...George Dutka

 Lisbon Station

This came from Roger Robar this past week. The town of Lisbon, NH who owns the railroad station has just finished painting it with the original colors. They did a great job. There was lots of scraping of loose paint, sanding, priming then painting of entire structure.

Ethan Allen Express

Bruce Douglas sent along this note from the Canadian Press. The long-awaited return of passenger rail service to Vermont's largest city for the first time in nearly 70 years is set for July 29, 2022 state transportation officials announced Thursday.

That’s the date Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express will begin offering service to New York City from downtown Burlington. The train will make stops in Vergennes and Middlebury before it reaches Rutland, the current northern terminus of the Ethan Allen Express, which travels to New York via Albany, with stops along the way.

The last regularly scheduled passenger rail service to Vermont's largest city ended in 1953. 

D&H Switchers Montreal

Geoff Southwood pass along these comments regarding a weekend post. "The black D&H switchers were a common site in Montreal in the mid sixties.  I frequently saw them operating near Lasalle Station and Sortin Yard, both of which were south of St.Luc Yard.  I had a couple of slides of these and a few years ago I gave all my D&H material to Kip Grant, whom I believe you know."  

Geoff's next comments cc'd to Kip Grant.

I think I have found your answer.  See https://archives.exporail.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/canadian-rail-184-1967.pdf.  Scroll down to a column written by Murray W. Dean, an old school mate of mine.  On Page 15, he indicates that as of January 1967, the following D&H switchers were on lease to C.P.R. … #3015, 3023, 3026, 3035, 3045 and 3047.  Over that period I think a number of D&H switchers cycled through the C.P.R. leasing ranks in and around Montreal.  George’s picture is of #3024 and my vague memory says that one of the slides given to Kip was #3022.

Kip comments my favorite D&H locomotives, the S-units! Well, actually I waffle between them and the RS 2/3's but that's a happy predicament. Geoff, the two slides in your donation that are pertinent here are of S4's 3035 in June '66 at LaSalle Station and 3047 in May, '66 at St. Luc. By the way, reviewing the slides was like seeing them for the first time all over again, Geoff. Thanks again.

Roger Robar photo

Kind of a neat image with two logos that would make a nice model. I took this photo back in 2019.

My friend Andy passed this photo along this past weekend which was taken by Larry Broadbent. Larry is traveling through Maine at the moment. Lots of neat signs can be seen on this roadside barn. I like all the angles of the barns roof with a couple of attachments.

I took this photo of the layout last week looking in from the aisle-way to WRJ. I have not been running trains for awhile (about 4 months)  so the tracks will need some cleaning soon. 

I just finished another Keen's gas which is seen on the left side. I had two kits, both coming without stencils. I made my own stencil from heavy photocopy paper which worked just fine. But by the end of the second roof stencil job it is now toast.

Geoff Southwood sent me a thought regarding this weeks Wordless Wednesday. In the hot sun those ice blocks won’t last long.  I would recommend a rollout awning when staging the ice out for loading in to the truck. I might just do that!

More Spray Paint!

Testing out two red tones on my old test hoppers.

A look at two red tones I have just tried out. Actually have had them around for a bit but with not doing any modeling in months they had to wait. On the left side one can see a red oxide primer which has a very flat finish which is from Home Hardware. I feel this color has the red tones that many of the CN CP boxcars once had. It maybe a good alternate to Floquil boxcar red. Many of the primers I have tried look too brown in tone. 

The second color is tru-color paint Matte dark red brick. It has a nice red tone to it with a bit of gloss. It might not need gloss coating for decaling  but some testing will be required. It might be another option for CN and CP boxcar reds also. I found it did not cover as well as the Home Hardware paint requiring more coats.

Both paints look great when applied to a scrap brick wall so a dual use for sure. I guess one needs to experiment with the spray bombs. I have in the past while trying to darken the tone is spray on a light coat of black or darker primer brown first and while still wet spray on the second shade. They will blend together as they dry. I used this mixing a lot with Floquil over the years...George Dutka  

Throwback Thursday: Rent-A-Wreck, Part Two

This colourful consist made up of ACR 185, CN 3739, and CP 5412 was idling on the shop track at CP Quebec St yard on May 17, 1987.

By Peter Mumby.

If you were to operate a lash-up like this on your model railroad layout you might be subject to a few negative comments of the "that can't be prototypical" variety.  However, on CP Rail during 1987, an assortment of short-term leases could invariably lead to motive power combinations of the "anything goes" type.  This photo was taken on May 17, 1987, just one day after the picture which was presented on June 09/22 in the earlier "Rent-A-Wreck" post. 

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 481

 

 

New Structures For Waterbury On The Green Mountain Division

 Filling In The Gaps At Waterbury.....by Don Janes

This is an overall view of the new buildings place in the Waterbury scene.  

     

        After spending over three months in Arizona this past winter it was good to get back to some modelling when I got home.  Before I left in Dec. I had been working on my Waterbury, VT. scene. Back in the fall I traded a structure kit to George for a small diner that he built from a FOS kit.  I really liked the look of it and thought it would look nice on my layout.  I also purchased a new FOS kit, Hollis Pest Control.  I really liked the lines of the structure and thought it would make a nice addition to the Waterbury scene.  It came with signs for an auto repair shop also so I elected to use it as that rather than a pest control business.      

        Once construction of the building was done I set to work laying out these foreground structures.  Since I wanted to make the scale model of the actual Waterbury station be the focal point of the scene I didn't want to hide it with other large structures so I placed these two buildings in the scene so the station would still be highly visible. To date I have the base scenery for the scene finished.  The two structures are removable so I will finish the background scenery next as I need to reach over the foreground to complete it and I don't want to damage the foreground buildings.  The scene is finally coming together and it has been a lot of fun to work on.

Here is a street side view of the repair shop.  Lots of additional scenery and details still need to be added.

The parking area is painted Grimy Black with cracks added to represent fairly new asphalt. That is the Waterbury Station in the background.

This view of the structure shows the interesting roof lines and various structural outcroppings.

Here is another view of the parking lot. The chain link fence is from Alkem Scale models and is the best scale chain link fence I have ever seen. All the outside lights on this structure are working SMD LED's.

These two photos show the neat little Pancake House that George built.  The wood fence id from Bar Mills.  My three year old grandson loves the pancake shop.

Barn West of London

This large barn I pass many times when leaving London heading west. I feel it makes a great candidate to model. I feel it also has the same appearance I see in New England in large barns. There are a couple similar barns near Komoka where I railfan the CP but difficult to include in photos...George Dutka  

CP-D&H Switchers

Montreal, Quebec Sept. 1964. Peter Cox photo.

Peter Cox has taken many wonderful photos of Canadian locomotives in years past. I have his book Locomotives from London covering the GM fleet built here in town. Ken Borg passed along this interesting view of a D&H and CP switchers that Peter took. There are a lot of Peter's photos floating around these days but this is one I had not seen and thought would be interesting for your to see. I am not sure the story behind the view seen in Montreal...any idea's...George Dutka   

The BAR-NH Insulated Boxcar Fleet

My model is NH 45097 which is the further back model. Peter Mumby's model is the BAR cleaner looking of the two.

A view of two NH-BAR 40' in service on the WRD. I took this photo a number of years ago when Peter showed up with his version of the fleet. My model was built by Warren Dodgson back in the 1990's. I was able to acquire part of his fleet when he left model railroading. The car is a kit offered by the NHRHS back then. Warren did a fine job constructing the model with lots of details added.

Back in 2018 it came across my workbench for some weathering and updates. The couplers were clipped on my model and a fresh flat finish applied. The wheels are rusted up a bit and the roof is touched with acrylic burnt sienna and burnt umber. Some black powders are applied to the roof. The sides are left as-is which has a bit of weathering sprayed on by Warren. I will have to take a few close-up views and share them with you. I don't recall much about Peter's car but will look into that too...George Dutka

Section House - Rutland, Vt.

The scrap metal dealer would love to get a hold of all these leftovers.

This view of the section house in Rutland, Vermont shows a lot of details around the structure that one can model. I believe the view if from 1982. I don't feel this typical of most railroads but neat to see..George Dutka 

Throwback Thursday - Exotic Equipment Close to Home

CP 1401 East is approaching Embro Road near the east siding switch of Zorra on June 05, 2004.

By Peter Mumby.

In the late spring of 2004, CP Hudson 2816, in the company of diesels 1401, 1900, and 3084, was touring in Ontario and Quebec.  I was able to photograph the equipment in Smiths Falls on May 28 and 29.  You can check the posts of November 18 and 25 of 2021.  At Smiths Falls the train was split in two, with 2816 taking charge of one portion and the diesels powering the other half.  CP 1401 West came through London on its way to Windsor on June 04 and I was able to catch it both east and west of the London yard.  The next day it returned eastward, and I photographed it at the western edge of the city.  Knowing that the crew would be changed at London, I headed east to catch the train on the Galt Sub.  Although there were no meets between London and Woodstock, for some reason the train was routed through each of the two passing sidings at slow speed, so I was able to keep ahead of it and enjoy multiple run pasts.  Today's photo shows the train approaching the east siding switch of Zorra. 

Wordless Wednesday No. 480

 

East Shaghtikete, NY

A view of the B&M station by Joseph A. Smith photo. I don't recall who pass the photo along to me but thank you for sharing...George Dutka   

CV Station - Richford, Vt.

 

A postcard view of Richford, Vt...George Dutka 

Wirthmore Grain Sacks

I searched the web and found these sacks that could work in HO scale.

This is an idea that Marty's CV blog shared awhile back. If one models New England you might want to include some Wirthmore grain sacks on your layout. Just reduce these views down to your scale then wrap and glue the copy onto a sack you already have. I would just double print it and fold one over gluing the edges together...George Dutka  

June Update 2022

Here is a view of the WRD from 2012. The ballast was still Woodland Scenics grey and was later changed to Highball cinder. My milk train is having a run over the line this day which was two cars and a Rutland combine kit I had assembled.

Not to much to report at the moment. Beginning this month I do have a bit more free time as we have cut down on daily visits to mother-in-law...will see how that works out. I also have made it out a few early mornings when the sun was out. They were short 1-2 hour jaunts just outside the city limits although I have made side-trips on my way to mother in laws in town. 

Once I am caught up with home chores that have piled up I will share some more newer modeling with you. I also have a selection of New England station postcards to share with you...George Dutka 

Fallen Flag hopper in CP yard London, Ontario last week. Might make an interesting model.

A close-up of one end...note the ACI label.

London's current yard switching power. Not sure if there is a decal set out for this variation.

The cab numbering...think they could have done a better job at the shop...no stencils?

Here we see the resin boxcar end and roofing offered a few years ago at a local train show for a dollar. When is the last time you got a kit for a dollar. It actually built up really nicely into a line side shed.

Here is Peter Mumby's and mine structure prior to painting.

And the finished models. Mine has a small stack...not sure if there is enough room for a stove in there.