B&M Crossing Shanty

I weathered the B&M shanty Ed Freeman gave me last week. The roof has some PanPastel Raw Umber Shade applied while on the red areas of the walls Bragdon Dark Rust is coated on. The yellow is coated with Bragdon Powder Dust Bowl Brown. The coal shed I added two hinges made from paper. The shed is colored with Hunterline Cement then PanPastel greys to give it a weathered unpainted look. A Juneco shovel is added on top and a Tichy broom is leaned near the door. More details will be added once it is planted at Bellows Falls...George Dutka   

The shanty as it looked when it arrived. A great little model that I felt would fit the scene better with a small amount of weathering. I really like how Ed did his shingled roof.

Wells - a new scene!

In this scene the B&M 44 tonner is about in the same location as yesterdays post but all the structures have been changed. The mill is a BEST kit of a structure in Laconia, NH that I have added lighting to. Hatter's in the foreground is a FOS kit-of-the-month.

Here is how yesterdays scene looks today. All the structures are newer being built in the last few years. Hatter's is the only structure that is now easily changeable as the other two have lighting added and takes a bit more work to swap them out. There is a loading ramp behind Hatter's and the station which I call Well's is a generic New England depot designed by Dave Frary for Atlantic Scale Models. The order board lights up and I added interior lighting...more on this later...George Dutka 

A Changing Scene

This view of Petersburgh was taken in 2019. The mill in the background I sold to my friend Brian Smith, the abandoned cellar has been moved next to a crossing down the road and the station has been switched out with a more permanent replacement.

Over the past few years I have built a few models that have been added to this particular scene. For a number of years it has been an interchangeable location which was always in flux. It is now a more permanent scene, maybe. Tomorrow we will see how it currently looks...George Dutka  

Throwback Thursday - Fire Season

 

A couple of water connections are visible on the end of tank car BCOL 991963.

By Peter Mumby. 

Anyone who watches the evening news is aware that fire season is getting longer, hotter, and more destructive with the passage of time and the change of weather patterns.  Railways, especially the Western lines, often retain specialized fire equipment for the protection of bridges and other infrastructure.  An example of such a piece of rolling stock is "Fire Protection Car" BCOL 991963, photographed in the British Columbia Railway yard at Lillooet on August 21, 1997.

Wordless Wednesday No. 486

 

 

New England Photos

CP 8755 B&M 1502 CP 87 north of St Johnsbury Vt 1969

A small group of scanned negatives that were passed along by Ken Borg from Michigan. They are labeled "Rich Pennisi scans"...enjoy...George Dutka 

B&M 1754 plus 5 more at Mechanicville, NY EB 1970.

EL 2521 3651-SDP45 westbound at Mechanicville NY 1969

Thursday Visit

Ed Freemans rendition of a B&M shanty built from a BEST kit. A fine job Ed. Nice to see other modeler leave the doors open too.

Ed Freeman and Jim Brigden from Toronto dropped by to visit the layout. Ed does some B&M modeling and both have visited Vermont and New England in the past. I think the last time I ran across Ed was at the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Maine a few years back. Ed also is the Southern Ontario Promotions guy for CN Lines...one can see him at their booths at shows.

Ed brought along a nice little B&M crossing shanty for me which I think I have the right spot for it at Bellows Falls. Thanks Ed. He also brought along his completed RS-2 which he reached out for decals a few years ago. Both Don Jane and Peter Mumby came to the rescue with what he needed. 

Ed also brought along one of two volumes offered by the BMRRHS which I might look into at Springfield the next time I attend...George Dutka 

A B&M book offered by their historical society which appears to be a good addition to ones library.

Ed's finished RS-2 rests in the grass at Bellows Falls...it might make a nice display piece there but I think Ed needs it to power his trains at home. Ed was happy when I sent him the decals that both Peter and Don supplied to finish this project.

BAR-NH Insulated Boxcars

Peter Mumby's nice model of a BAR insulated boxcar. The BAR had 300 delivered in 1950, #2000-2299. In 1953 another 150 car were ordered. Heaters were removed from some boxcars in 1964.

The two plugged door insulated boxcars are posed together for a photo shoot a few years back. Above in the foreground is Peter's BAR which he picked up at a model RR show. Is a good looking kit-bash. My NH version is seen below which I had covered a couple of weeks ago. It is a craftsman kit...George Dutka 

My model NH #45097 falls into the #45000 - 45099 series of cars built in 1953. The cars had an under slung charcoal heater. This model was a NHRHTA offering decades ago. Some of these cars were painted oxide red in 1968 while I have seen others in an orange appearance in the mid-1970's.  

 

Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives copy.

The photo above and below were posted by Richard Wilkens Director of Collections Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive in a Yahoo group chat.

Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive

Throwback Thursday: Push-Pull, Too

Steam or diesel, this excursion train had it all.

By Peter Mumby.

The post of July 07/22 featured ACR 1755 and 1761 operating in push-pull mode at the east end of a passenger special on July 04, 1998.  Today we will inspect the locomotive which was working on the west end of this same train, specifically ex-MILW steam engine number 261.  In this view the excursion train is just departing the area in front of the depot at Green Bay, WI.

Wordless Wednesday No 485

 

   

For Scrap Maybe?

CEFX 2001, 2033 (GP20D's) and 1555 (MP15AC or SW1500) ex NS 2229 at London, Ont. shop track July 15 2022.

My friend Andy who also worked with me at CN passed along this information regarding three engines that have been sitting in the CN London shop track for over a week....George Dutka

3 CEFX units tied up in CL50 here in London for over a week were originally going to Zubick's for scrap, but now are being held for possible sale to Lambton Diesel in Sarnia, Ontario...Andy

CN London shop track July 15, 2022.

Malone, NY - Postcard

        

Snapshot - July 2022

The CP WB waits for the signal into the yard on the Ridout St. bridge. Note all the signs and striping that warns driver of trucks of the low clearance.

I took this shot Friday on my way home from the mother-in-law of a CP local EB waiting to get into London yard. Note all the signs and stripping which tells one that trucks do not fit under the Ridout St. bridge. Even with all this it keeps getting hit regularly. 

I learned later in the day Friday a similar bridge on the CN just west of London on the Chatham sub was struck by a large truck even though it has all the signage and strips. VIA was disrupted from early morning on for the day.

Years ago when I worked CN 434-435 the London to Toronto and return job, I was on my way back to London on WB 435 when we went over the CN underpass east of London in the Putnam area which has a low clearance bridge. To my surprise there was a truck stuck under the bridge. Well I put the brakes on bringing the train to a crawl over the bridge although the engines hit it as 60mph. All was well but the dispatcher sent out a crew and police to check things out. We were lucky...if the bridge had moved we probably would have derailed....George Dutka

Milwaukee Boxcar

The completed model with a nice amount of weathering that will fit well into my freight car fleet.

For my birthday last December Peter Mumby gave me two nice pieces of rolling stock to add to my fleet. I finally got around to weathering up the Milwaukee outside braced 40' boxcar. It is a YesterYears offering that is a custom painted Tichy model...George Dutka

The boxcar how it appeared out of the box. A dark brown-red.

I gave it a coat of flat finish then painted the roof with grey acrylic paint (rainy day grey). It was more of a wash. I then used two PanPastels emulate some paint remaining over the metal roof. Raw umber shade is on the flat panels while around the ribs and running boards is red iron oxide extra dark. The running boards are colored using AK pencils dirty white and black.

The sides have AK streaking grime as a wash run down all the metal bracing and door tracks. This is a new product to me so more of an experiment. I also painted the under body with this same product. I think it turned out pretty good but more practice will bring improvement with applications. 

On the sides I put on a light coat of PanPastel red iron oxide extra dark followed by their grey in-between the ribs to lighten the brown paint. I thought I should have added some chalk marks prior to the start of the project but what the heck lets try putting them on now. I applied the decals right over the weathering and they appear to have stuck although they had a glossy look to them once sealed. I tried to just brush the weathering over them a bit but no luck. I took a fine brush and dabbed some Model Master flat clear right on the decals. once dry they looked good especially once I pulled a bit more weathering over them...George Dutka

One can see the chalk mark decals have a shine and show their edges. Flat finish will hide this shortly.

The PanPastels used to coat the car. Also the paint applied to the roof is seen here. One side is almost complete while the other has just the grey paint.

The chalk mark decals applied over the PanPastels have been touched up with flat finish with a fine brush then powders pulled over them.

GTW GP18

The shell is off and work is about to begin to convert this engine to a GTW model. I have some nice photos to work from in Peter Mumby's book he lent me recently.

Jim Sloan gave me a Proto 2000 GP18 during the winter that he was not going to use. I did not do anything with it over the winter due to family and health issues. It has sat on my workbench next up for 6 months now. I did spend sometime contemplating what road name to apply to the model that I could use. There was a number that pass through my mind but with my back alley scene to be integrated into a 1960's through 1990's RR I thought I might go with GTW. I have a lot of GTW equipment and a caboose that could match the unit. The unit would not have to be totally repainted just the logo and numbering painted out. The foot board strips can be left. One big problem was GTW GP18 did not have dynamic so the center of the shell has to be removed which I just completed. I have a Front Range drop in section that fits well. So the project is now underway. It will remain a DC unit for now as the module will be one I can switch from DC to DCC as I have way to many DC engines that will never see a decoder....George Dutka.  

Throwback Thursday - CP Track Evaluation Car

Track Evaluation Car CP 63 is being prepared to leave the Havelock yard on August 23 1999 for a trip up the Nephton Subdivision.

By Peter Mumby.

Built in 1931 as solarium lounge "Antigua," the subject of today's photo spent time as work car 411255 before being modified into Engineering Services Track Evaluation Car number 63.  It was observed on August 23, 1999 at the east end of the yard at Havelock, Ontario.  Preparations were being made to shove the car up the nearby Nephton Subdivision.  The car was equipped with lights, bell, and a horn to facilitate such a back-up move. 

Wordless Wednesday No 484

 

   

Buddy's Flat Fixed

I tucked Buddy's into the corner of the auto section of my back alley scene for this photo. It will not be staying here for long.

This tiny kit is included in the FOS Atlas Gorge kit of the year from 2021. I began with the smaller buildings first to get a feel of the instructions and how the parts are laid out in the box. There is a mind boggling amount of parts and detailing included in this kit with some areas not clearly labeled. More photos and details to follow....George Dutka

Mt Mansfield Ski Poster

 

This is a replica poster that was for sale on e-bay. I had seen one of these on display some years ago in Waterbury, Vermont. It was reproduced by the Vermont Ski Museum, Franconia, NH 2005  

Bragdon Powders

A look at the packages of four colors included with a nice little plastic container to hold them all. I feel these two sets are well worth purchasing. I have been using them your years now and have yet to run out...George Dutka   

GTW Boxcar

Since this car was built it has passed over my workbench twice. Once for a facelift and a second time to correct the numbering.

I built this boxcar back in the  early 1980's from a Bachmann kit and it has been back to my workbench in 2014 for an upgrade plus some weathering. It now has better running boards, steel wheels and clipped couplers. When I built it I had no photos of the car and just used the information on the back of the decal set. RR book detailing rolling stock or specific railroads were just not around then to work from. Of course no internet also. Sounds like the stone age. Now with research at our fingertips I realized the numbering is wrong. I had put a PS-1 number on the car. It has been easily changed by painting out one number and applying the correct one.

A bit of GTW boxcar history. AFC in 1953 built cars numbered GTW 516000-516599 with 7-foot doors. They were in service till 1994. Another group of AFC cars GTW 515500-515999 blt. 1949 with 7-foot doors were in service till 1985.  GTW PS-1 515000-515499 had 7' doors built in 1948. Some of these were transferred to CN. GTW PS-1 516600-516899 built in 1957 had 8' doors with many in service still in late 1990's. Many of these cars were mainly used for cereal loading. Most of this information is from the CN Sig....George Dutka  

Prior to the number change. One digit was all that needed to be changed.

Throwback Thursday: Push-Pull

On July 04, 1998, ACR 1755 and 1761 are operating in push-pull mode on the east end of a passenger special at Green Bay, WI.

By Peter Mumby.

At the time of this photo (July 04, 1998) the Algoma Central Railway was under Wisconsin Central control.  This would explain why FP9A 1755 and F9B 1761 were available to operate in push-pull mode at one end of a passenger special powered by ex-MILW steam locomotive number 261.  These trains were running out of Green Bay, WI, and the photo was taken just west of the Green Bay depot. 

Wordless Wednesday No. 483

 

    

Lisbon, NH - Postcard

 

      

July - This and That!

Gary Pembleton passed along this view of butterdish milk car at the Illinois Railroad Museum a few years back after seeing the butterdish car models in a past Wordless Wednesday...thanks Gary

Just some more bits that you might find interesting...George Dutka 

Enjoyed the D&H switchers in Montreal. A few of the numbers are familiar...

GMRC purchased 3 Alco switchers from the D&H at start up.

S2 #3026 was scheduled to be GMRC 302.

S4 3036 became GMRC 303.

S4 3050 became GMRC 305.

303 & 305 saw regular service until sold off.

3026 was sidelined for parts & ultimately scrapped.

The only part remaining is the radiator compartment nose door, which I obtained with permission from CMO J. Hebda. Always thought of restoring/repainting, but I thinks its best left with present patina.

Interestingly, I've moved this very heavy hunk of metal from VT to AZ & back to MA over the years...Kevin Smith

I came across CP military locomotive on June 29, 2022. It was pouring rain but I got out and took these two views with my phone.

Roadway Diorama

The street scene is next to the first back alley module.

Early last winter just after Christmas I built this small roadway diorama to be added between my two back alley scenes. It was kind of an experiment with some new-to-me products and details. I am happy with how it turned out...George Dutka

I added Pikestuff guardrail and a Tichy stop sign. I think the fire hydrant is a Juneco offering.

The sidewalk is styrene along with the curb. I glued on static grass and Woodland scenic ground foam. Some litter is found around the guardrail.

An overall view of the three dioramas if you include the tracks in the foreground together.

Happy Canada Day!

 

A view of the coal tower at White River Jct. with the steamers not present the extra space for diesels is a good thing. The GT and CV engines actually are Athearn and Front Range dummies that need the B&M engine to come along and power the next run over the WRD....George Dutka