Gondola Interiors, Garbage Bags and staging tracks.

 

The foreground track is not attached to the layout. It is to make the yard look bigger than it is and to hold interesting equipment that one sees first.

I was asked a question recently where their garbage bags way back then. I had a group of them in a gondola. Most of my modeling is of the 1950's and at times I set the era as 1960's and 70's. 

The plastic garbage bag was invented in 1950 by a couple of Canadian boys for industrial use. Winnipeg hospital was one of the first to use these. They did not become household items till the late 1960's. I remember our family using tin garbage cans while I was growing up. I don't recall using garbage bags till I got married in 1975. 

So it is up to you if you include them in your modeling scenes. With a number of these being offered in 3-D printing I like the looks of them in scenes. I have only added them to one gondola which actually is not operating on the layout but in the foreground. I have a track staged in the foreground in WRJ and Bellows Falls which is not actually attached to the layout. These tracks are were I place interesting cars like flats and gondolas which adds to the scene...George Dutka

This is the only car I added garbage bags to as industrial waste. It is surprising how long these type of cars hung around for scrap and clean up service. I remember seeing CN gondola cars that were full of junk into the late 1970's that would have been scrapped much earlier if not in company service.

Overhead look at the staging track in the foreground. It is hidden at this end by the yard office and trees.

This it the interior of a Tichy gondola. I recently adding a bit of gravel, dirt and cinders to the interior. This one had crushed HO ballast added too. I leave it loose. I can always dump the loose stone if being stored...there really is no cost to that so it can be added once again. The skids and scraps are glued down.

Milwaukee Rapido Boxcar - Last Look

A few views of the finished Rapido model...George Dutka  

 

Throwback Thursday - Fresh Out of the Box

CNW 490741 was looking good at CP Quebec St in London on August 20, 1995.

By Peter Mumby.

This car looks like it has just been taken out of the box and set on the layout for the first time.  Your first impression is probably favourable.  Enjoy it while it lasts - the taggers are probably waiting at the next stop! 

Wordless Wednesday No. 608

 

    

NECR 3015 - New Paint

St Albans, Vermont Dec 15, 2024. Leif Tillotson photos.

I did not realize the NECR repainted one of their engines for the Military Veterans till I saw this photo yesterday. Different for sure. Thanks for letting me post your photo Leif...George Dutka  

NECR Veterans unit 3015 is a GP40-CU. It was repainted into the Veterans livery in August 2024. It was originally built for the CN, numbered 9457 a GP40-2LW.

St. Catherines Ontario - Station

Nov. 20, 2024

This year I actually had a chance to visit a lot of stations I have not been to in years and in some cases decades. On a recent trip I visited the CN-VIA station in St. Catherines. Here are a few views of what I saw. It has been maybe 30 years since I last visited this location...George Dutka   

This trip was in November and it was overcast and rainy the whole time away, but well worth the visits.

It appears an addition has been added at some point attaching the frt house to the station.

December 2024 - This and That Part 2

I have been doing a bit of O scale modeling lately. This is a resin kit manufactured and offered locally. More on this will be on my narrow gauge blog shortly.

There was a lot to share recently, so here is a bit more for you to enjoy in a part 2 "This and That"...George Dutka  

I have been asked a number of times if Jim Sloan is OK. All is well except for his computer. He can't blog and is waiting for his computer guy to check out the computer. Here are a before and after model Jim did recently.

Well, I've had this model for quite some time (Tangent Model), but I just got around to weathering it recently and now it can finally go out on the layout. The model still needs a flat finish coat. These views are my before and after look...Jim Sloan.

Below there is a link to Geoff Southwood's B&M layout. Geoff mentioned a good friend of his, Sylvain Duclos was over to his house in November and shot some footage for his YouTube Channel. A railroad is never finished as you all know and you'll see lots of "to do" items in the video.

Back to Geoff Southwood 1955 Boston & Maine

Another neat video to watch was sent out by Scott Whitney. He mentioned Al Pomeroy sent him a notice of this YouTube video of NE railroad action in 1976. There's some really good stuff there that was shot on 16mm which is very clear.

#72 Short Lines GM, VR, ST, FJG November 1976

Jim Dufour mentioned this CV book will be out mid February and I believe Ron's book will be handling them. You might want to check it out. George Corey passed away recently, he would have been 100 this month.

My friend Gary Pembleton who models in N scale has been on a tree building spree with his grandson Andrew. They began with plastic tree shapes, painting them and adding ground foam, attaching with hair spray. They are now trimming up some golden rod into tree shapes to be added to the layout once painted and leaves are applied.

More trees will be added which will be made from goldenrods.

Don and I have been to Mechanicville, NY a number of times together in the past decade. I try to explain to him what once was there and what I did see on my early visits. My first visit there was mid 1980's which still seemed to have a lot of trackage and facilities in tact but not in use. Visiting Mechanicville today, it is hard to vision what once was there. Photos like this postcard helps fill in the blanks. 

Milwaukee Outside Braced Boxcar - Work Continues.

I decided to add some chalk marks to this boxcar before it got weathered. It has just got a coat of gloss followed by a coat of flat clear over the decal areas once applied.

Working away on my Rapido outside braced boxcar. I decided to add a few chalk marks and seal them before more work was done on the car. Kadee trip pins are clipped but no other work is done to the car. The sides are done with PanPastels...George Dutka  

Chalk marks along the lower area. They are from a Midwestern decal sheet.

One can see the chalk marks and were I decided to apply them.

Acrylic gray has been applied to the roof and some spots have PanPastel raw umber shade applied. This work on the roof was done at a weathering clinic I gave last month. Finally getting around to finishing it off.

Three tones are used on the car sides.

At this point some medium gray is applied to the roof edges and down the sides in a few locations. I do this on a few of my cars. You don't want it on all your fleet just a few cars that has grey streaking on the roof edges and down the sides a bit.

I colored a few of the roof boards with barnwood acylic paint to emulate replaced boards for the running boards. Once painted I used my dirty PanPastel brush to move some weathering over the boards to blend them in a bit.

Out on the road.

December 2024 - This and That Part 1

At the Woodstock train show one vendor had a kit of Molly's Reach, the prototype can be found in BC, Canada and seen in a TV show Beachcombers from years ago. It is now being used as the diner and as a backdrop of a current murder series filmed in British Columbia. This gentleman had 50 produced to sell a few years back and the one in the box is the last one he has left. He is keeping the finished model for himself. He was selling other structure kits, 3D printed details and scale lumber under the name TAK's Model Works.

Just a bit of what does not fit into my other posts to pass along...enjoy the views...George Dutka  

I needed some better detailing paint brushes. I will let you know how these work shortly. 

Peter showed you a view of Walton a couple of weeks ago here in London. Here is my view from a April 20, 2020. The sign is still there but on the ground now.

Saturday Dec 7, 2024 the CN yard in London was still a mess, but being cleaned up. We had a snow week here in town for about 5 days now. The forecast now is for rain and warmer weather.

The sun peeked out for just a second as a PanAm train heads east over the trestle from Mechanicville, NY on Nov 3, 2018. 

This was one of the kits on Peter Mumby's table at the Woodstock train show. I set it aside as I thought it might be something I could complete. It is maybe 3/4 done...will see if I don't get at it in the next month or two it will be back on Peter's table at the next show. I don't want to keep anymore kits around indefinitely...I already have a drawer full of these. It is a neat looking boxcar.

Throwback Thursday - Leaving Ridout

Via 6411 has just piloted train number 71 through the interlocking at CN Ridout in London on January 20, 2010.

By Peter Mumby.

The CN/Via passenger station in downtown London, Ontario is situated at milepost 78.2 of the CN Dundas Subdivision and milepost 0.0 of the Strathroy Subdivision.  Located just to the west of the station, at milepost 0.2, is the interlocking known as Ridout.  This incorporates the crossovers and turnouts which allow for access to and from the station off either the north or south mainline track.  In today’s photo Via 71 has just cleared Ridout and is accelerating up the grade across Wharncliffe Road on its way to Windsor.  

  

Wordless Wednesday No. 607

   

Quick Fix and Interior Detailed!

Another project car completed.

Peter Mumby gave me three hospital cars that all needed some loving. One has been completed and now on the layout, this is the second one. I think it is a F&C resin kit but with no detail on the underbody. It was painted, lettered and weathered but the couplers were broken and the brake wheel stem bent and wheel missing. It has a nice pair of Kadee trucks. So I began by adding a new brake wheel stem and wheel, followed by fixing couplers. I gave the underbody, ends and truck side frames a coat of AK railroad wash.

The wheels received a coat of coffee bean brown by Folk Art which looked pretty good with a bit of black powder applied once dry. I should mention I gave the car a coat of flat clear prior to doing any weathering as I was not sure how the project would unfold (or if it would need just powders or painting).

Most of my time spent on the model was to detail the gondola interior and add some extra weathering after the repairs. I used a good amount of Monster Model Works tie plates.

I think the car looks really good now with an interesting load of leftovers that the carmen will need to clean up when it returns home. Thanks Peter for the nice car and a project that sidetracked me, (I am suppose to be rebuilding the diamond area of the layout)...George Dutka

Brake wheel and couplers are attached. I did have to fix the weathering a bit.

AK railroad wash is applied to the underbody, steel car ends and truck side frames. 

The interior is being worked on now.

Some old ties, skids, tie plates and scrap bracing blocks are added to the interior. I also added some real cinders from St. Thomas museum Caso yard and some Arizona Rock yard ballast that I crushed with a hammer first. HO ballast is a bit course, hitting it with a hammer helps.

Those are 3-D printed garbage bags that I used. I did add a bit of powders to the floor before beginning the detailing.

The Reading car is a nice looking model.

Ready to roll.

Rapido Outside Braced Boxcar

The wheels on this model is brush painted using AK fresh mud. In this view the paint is still wet. Some Bragdon powders will be applied once dry.

I recently have been working on another Rapido outside braced boxcar. I have a few of these cars now. This one I partly did the roof as a demonstration for a weathering clinic I did in early November in Sarnia, Ontario. I am currently back working on the model once again...George Dutka

It may not show well but the running boards are done with Folk Art barnwood. The roof panels are Crafter's Charcoal Grey. One can see half of this side has PanPastel raw umber shade applied. The other side is yet to be started. 

Looking at the roof from the other end. This was as far as I went during the weathering clinic with this model before the group started working on their own models.