New Posts

Some of you may already know but my wife passed on Saturday after a two year battle with cancer. I need some time at the moment...so I will not be posting anything till maybe the weekend or early next week. We were married for 48 years. Life will get back to a new normal I hope at some point....George  

Red's - Wiscasset, Maine

The era has been moved ahead and the train crew has stopped at Red's pulling the caboose clear of the crossing.

Two views of my small drop-in diorama of Red's found in Wiscasset Maine. A favorite of many that venture up that way...George Dutka 

On the WRD it is standard practice for train crews to stop at Red's for a bite to eat. During my time on the CN we had our regular stops too.

April - Update

 

Don’s article in RMC is excellent and it prompted me to look back for some old pictures of the RS-2.  Here’s a shot of #8404 from the late sixties heading north through Newport VT,...Geoff Southwood

Here is a bit of this and that I hope you enjoy...George Dutka  

Brian Smith dropped off these two nicely modeled open top hoppers this week that just does not fit into his era. Brian was a local modeler, but in the last year moved to New Brunswick to live. I now have a reason to travel to the east coast. Brian is in the area for a visit with friends and doctor appointments.

My new addition awhile back having a test run on the WRD. This chop nose Rapido model is a nice replica of the CP prototype. It will be used when the era is moved forward. 

An overall view of my Hoods creamery diorama that I built almost a year ago.

Awhile back Peter Mumby had a friend scan many of his negatives. When Peter and I ran through his scans we selected a few for Throwback Thursdays and other posts. Here is one I found interesting of a work car that has a roll-up silver door that one might want to model.

Throwback Thursday - Sarnia Diesel Shop

CN 9491 is relaxing near the Sarnia Diesel Shop on September 04, 1993.

By Peter Mumby. 

Now, that’s a neat sign!  Certainly not a standard company issue - it must have been locally produced by a painter with a good eye for design.  Today CN doesn’t have many of these smaller diesel shops left.  This one in Sarnia is currently operated by Lambton Diesel Specialists, so there are usually several rebuilt GM locomotives nearby.

Wordless Wednesday No. 576

 

Feb 27, 2000 Copetown West, Ontario   

Patch, Rust and Weathered Hoppers

Lots of rust on this piece of rolling stock with a bit of a repaint, Sept 6 2019

Here are a few of covered hoppers I photographed a few years back while in the Burlington, Ontario area (behind the IKEA store)...George Dutka  

All photo are taken at Aldershot East from behind the IKEA parking lot. There is a bit of a grassy hill that one can park in front of and stand up high enough to shoot over the fence while the wife shops inside. The rust is just beginning on the upper side of the covered hopper. Sept 8, 2019

This covered hopper has a good amount of rust happening on the upper half of the car which also has some gray patching lower down. Sept 8 2019.

GT New England Plow

GT 55481 is seen in Coaitook, Que. March 26, 1983. Lee Labrecque Gord Taylor collection.

This is one of the slides I scanned a number of years ago from the Gord Taylor collection. Peter Mumby is the current owner of most of Gord's photo work...George Dutka 

1990's Diorama

A short CV milk train is seen on my 12' diorama that I was testing my modeling skills on back in the early 1990's. The structures were a mix of what I had built back then. Some I still have and use.

Prior to building the WRD I had a diorama which I was trying different ideas for scenery, trackage and structure placement. This would be early 1990's. This view I took as a slide which I recently found mixed in with other slides. I scanned the original and color adjusted it the best I could. Color shots back then were not the best for me...most of what I took at that time was in B&W...George Dutka      

NH Boxcar - Models

My NH boxcar fleet has been growing over the past few years. These cars could be found all around the continent at one time.

Here is a view of a group of my NH boxcars. I do have a few more that appear on the WRD layout at times. More on a couple of these cars in next month's RMC, check it out...George Dutka  

Throwback Thursday: GWWD by the Numbers - Part Two

 

GWWD 102 was sitting in front of the CASO station at CN St Thomas south on September 20, 1994.

By Peter Mumby.

In today’s post we will take a look at the second half of the roster of GWWD 44-ton locomotives, specifically numbers 102 and 103.  According to the “Canadian Trackside Guide,” both of these units were purchased second hand.  102 had been built in 1945 as Swift and Company 400.  As part of the 1994 transaction it was sold to Ontario Southland Railway.  103 was assembled in May of 1947 as CN 7751, and was subsequently renumbered as 7550, then number 1 before its transfer to GWWD.  Its 1994  buyer was Port Stanley Terminal Rail.  

GWWD 103 sits with its mates at CP Quebec St yard in London on February 05, 1994.

GWWD 103 had been moved to the CP shop track in London by the time this image was exposed on February 19, 1994.

Wordless Wednesday No. 575

  
   

Don Janes - General Store

This is the side that I plan to expand the store. A good size addition will be required.

A few more views of how Don's general store once looked. It is all scratch-built using styrene siding. That was what we used back in the 1980's. There was not that wide range of craftsman structures we enjoy today...George Dutka 

The rear wall of the store.

I will leave the window signs as is but may add some to the overhang which will be added.

Country General Stores

Internet find of general store in Connecticut.

I recently looked around the internet for views of country general stores that might inspire me to start a conversion of a model Don Janes built and gave me years ago. It had been on his layout for years until his current rebuild (which has been in the works for maybe 10 years). It is now on a shelf by my workbench. I have had it for the last 7 or 8 years waiting its turn to be revived. I want to turn it into a larger version, maybe double the size which possibly will find a home on our friend Bill Moore's B&M layout...George Dutka      

Don Janes general store from his old layout. I plan on adding an addition to each side, removing the lean-to shed. The roof maybe used on the addition or possibly the lean-to will be revised somewhere else. A covered porch will be worked into the mix. There might be some slate roofing and also metal roof seections.

This wonderful view of front door area of a general store in Vermont was taken by Ken Karlewicz and found on the internet. There is great looking signage over the door and on the windows.  

This general store is located in Maine.

Not sure were this country store is but a nice looking example of something we might model.

Back Alley Scene

 

The far left end of the diorama has the ice house backside in view, a bit of a Tichy fence and the auto body shop.

Here are a few more views of my back alley scene that did not make it into RMC...George Dutka  

There is a bit of an alley with a broken down car with tools around it and some trash against the walls. All this makes the scene come together with the other structures.

Not much to the auto body shop that is set into the rear of the diorama. Just a block front wall with a window, sign and awning. two short side walls and some roof details such as a huge roof vent for the paint shop. OK Auto Body once was across from the parking lot at the VIA-CN Brantford station. I used a photocopy of my photo took some years ago of the structure sign to add here.

Overall view of the left side of the diorama. The fence out front is also a Tichy product. The telephone pole Brian Smith gave me some years ago. It is a wood kit that has spikes as steps. The base is a piece of Gatorfoam.

Track Ballast - CN Oakville Subdivision

Looking down onto the CN Oakville sub looking west one gets a good look at the ballasting, spillage and staining between the rails on Sept. 7, 2019.

I took a few views looking down onto the CN Oakville sub. at the west end of Aldershot back in 2019. If you are looking at track ballasting or weathering this is a good view with lots of differences along the way...George Dutka  

Throwback Thursday: GWWD by the Numbers -Part One.

GWWD 100 was sitting in the London, Ontario CP yard on February 05, 1994.

By Peter Mumby.

The Greater Winnipeg Water District rostered a small group of four GE 44-ton locomotives.  These were numbered in the 100 - 103 series.  Following several years in storage, the locomotives were loaded onto CP flat cars and shipped east in early 1994 to start working for new owners.  I caught up with these units in early February at CP Quebec St yard in London, Ontario.  Today we will take a look at numbers 100 and 101, both of which had been acquired new from the builder by GWWD.  Build dates were April 1946 and September 1949, respectively.  The pair had been sold to Ontario Southland Railway.  We will consider units 102 and 103 next week in Part Two of this discussion.  

GWWD 101 made for an interesting load aboard CP company service flat car 421739.

Wordless Wednesday No. 574

 
      

Paint Job

Sept 6, 2019

Now that is a paint job. I saw this car pass me by on my way to an old timers basketball tournament in Burlington, Ont. I was playing in. Not sure if I want a copy of this car on my layout...George Dutka 

Weathering - Lower area of Structures

On the side wall one can see some lifted board up higher but a few worn boards down lower. I used a hobby knife to trim into the boards edges...a very simple trim job.

I took a few closer up views of my BEST section shed that views the lower area of the structure. I cut back on some of the siding giving it a jagged edge and added a bit more weathering stains to the lower few rows of boards. It all make a difference in the final appearance...George Dutka  

The lower front wall has some wear to be seen also. 

The rear wall has a lot more wear to see. Some weeds will hide a bit of it so no worries if you get heavy handed with this process. I also applied some AK wash for wood along the lower areas.

Contoocook Section Shed - BEST Models

The completed B&M section shed. I used construction paper to make the tarpaper roof. The seams are weathered using Bragdon dark rust and PanPastel raw umber shade.

A look at how my model turned out, the captions tell the story...George Dutka  

Upper walls are Floquil depot buff then grime all brushed on. When dry Bragdon dust bowl brown is applied. The lower area and trim is Floquil tuscan red then when dry Bragdon dark rust. The plastic parts (Tichy) are spray painted Tru-color matte dark red brick with Bragdon dark rust applied.

The underside of the roof is painted Ammo Rail Center dark grey. The stack is painted AK winter streaking grime.

The roof was all one piece that I first taped together then glued from the underside. The tape was then removed.

Front wall has a few pulled up boards. with some PanPastel raw umber shade weathering steaked down.

Snapshot - April 2024

BN 2098 is finally working. Throwing up some mean looking smoke it is working at the top end of London CN yard, April 4, 2024.

This months snapshot is a look at a BN unit on lease or loan to the CN. Through the past month when I have passed the yard the BN unit has been worked on. Yesterday, April 4, 2024 when I passed the yard it actually was working and also throwing up some heavy smoke...George Dutka   

March 30, 2024 the shop staff is working away on BN 2098. It is once again needing attention while the train crew stand around at the crossing switch. Other power is blocked in by this set.

March 16 2024 three shop men work away to see if they can get BN 2098 running properly.