MEC Caboose

The roof which has a green tone is covered with PanPastel raw umber shade which takes away from the overall clean green look.

The Northeastern cabooses were once offered by Lifelike - Proto in MEC paint. I picked one up this spring from Chris Wright who was reducing his New England rolling stock. I did a bit of weathering and rusting it up a bit....George Dutka   

A better view of the conductor on the end platform. Vallejo rust texture is added to the seams. PanPastel blender is applied to the sides fading the orange down a bit and raw umber shade is along the bottom edges.

B&M WRJ Yard Office

 

This view from around 1970 of the B&M yard office in WRJ shows an already worn wall lacking of paint similar to when I viewed in the 1990's. Note the basement door was already boarded up at this time. I am assuming the structure was still being used at that time. Dwight Smith photo....George Dutka

Conductor - All aboard!

All set to go!

On almost all my cabooses you will find a brakeman or conductor on the end platform. It just adds a bit more interest when the train passes by you on the White River Division...George Dutka   

September 2024 - This and That

Brian Smith hiked about 30 minutes into the bush to take this photo of two steam engines found in Maine near the border with New Brunswick. Brian mentioned if you have a boat you can get to this location better. 

A bit of a mix of photos for you to view including what we saw last week at Rochester...George Dutka  

Terry Nixon took this photo back in August 2024 of a CP train crossing Frank Lane. On the train was another of those ex-B&M covered hoppers.

A view from the 1960's or 1970's of the engine I mentioned a week ago in Springbank park. Bruce Douglas passed this one along.

Rochester and Southern seen from the airport entrance. It appears they have a neat looking yard tower, unfortunately this is the closest we could get.

Looking down from the crossing we could see the local switcher working in front of the tower. There is more of the yard south of the tower that is visible from the Airport cellular use parking log.

The Fairport viewing platform and caboose in late afternoon. Railfanning here for lighting is better later in the day.

I did do some wandering around through town. There is a storage facility across the track where I took this photo in the morning.

The old Fairport NY electric line station. This line is a walking bike trail now at this end of town.

The Rochester Amtrak station looked different to me from what I saw in the past. As it turns out this is a new station built in 2017.

Throwback Thursday - Pinafore Park Railway

Locomotive number 3 is stopped with its passenger car at the station in Pinafore Park on May 27, 1990.

By Peter Mumby.

Pinafore Park is a large municipal green space located in St. Thomas, Ontario.  Between 1964 and 1997 the Pinafore Park Railway operated in a segment of this park.  The railway consisted of a loop of 42 inch gauge track, along with an engine house and service area. Three locomotives were on the roster. Numbers 1 and 2 were 0-4-0T steam locos previously operated by the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway. Number 3 was a GE 25-ton diesel originally owned by Bowater Newfoundland Ltd. 

Here is my “souvenir ticket” dating back to late May in 1990.

Wordless Wednesday No 596

 

     

WOD-NMRA Breslau Train Show

The Western Ontario Division of the NFR-NMRA are having their 3rd annual train show in Breslau, Ontario which is a short drive from Kitchener, Ontario. This train show was in the past held in Paris during the Icey month of January. Since then the show has evolved to much more than just a train show. There are many more display and a nice number of clinics that can help new and old modelers with their projects. You might want to check it out if in the area...George Dutka        

NER 2024

There were almost no vendors at the convention but the one that was there was interesting to see. Kevin Tully had his neat looking 3-D printed grain elevators and feed mill details on display and for sale.

Don and I took in a good amount of clinics on Thursday afternoon. Friday was spent railfanning at the Fairport viewing platform, once in the morning and again later in the afternoon prior to supper. The Erie canal is just across the street from the viewing platform which had a lot of action also with the lift bridge opening a few times an hour. It is the season boaters are leaving the great lakes for ports in the southern US and the Bahamas. 

We visited and rode the train at the Rochester & Genesee Valley RR Museum. Don or I will cover it in another post. We also saw one layout on our way home Saturday and also the Hemlock train show. I had to be home Saturday evening so Saturday was whatever we could see or do on our way home.

We were disappointed to not be able to see much of the contest room as models could not be displayed till Friday night and once again if you were there between 8 and 9am before judging. So is it turned out what we saw was maybe 6 or 7 models on display when we went through the room. Seeing these models is one of the favorite parts of conventions and RPM meets. Not sure why the time was so limited.

There was more to do and see than we could take in during our time at the convention but we had a great time there...George Dutka

The east end of CSXT yard on Thursday evening as the sun sets. I took this view with my phone of the the local switcher tied up for the day and the flat top van rider. We did run across the equipment earlier in the day passing the Rochester Amtrak station.

There was a free-mo layout being set up in the vendors room which seemed to take a full day to get up and running. This was one of the roadway scenes I liked. 

A mill complex to be judged. There was more photos to be judged than models when we visited the room.

A model to be judged in the contest room.

In the contest room this structure I believe is by Tom Oxnard although we did not see Tom at the convention.

The Hemlock train show was well attended which was held in a barn style structure at the Hemlock fairground. Although there was lots to see we kept our hands in our pockets as both Don and I have enough stuff already at home. I did see some great deals on B&M engines and brass models but I really did not need more.

NER - NMRA Convention 2024

Otto Vondrak suggested Don and I check out a location that is accessible near the east end of the CSX yard where the local power and the caboose-riding platform are normally located in the evening. Here is a couple of shots at sunset.

Don and I attended this years NER convention. I have a lot of family events happening at the moment so this is a quick post of a few things we saw and taken with my phone...more to come once I load my camera photos...George Dutka

The yard tower today is only used by the signal department I was told. This is at the end of Goodman St. at East Main, Rochester, NY. One can get really close here without trespassing.

Jordan Derleth had a "sit and talk" about his modern day freight car weathering. He is part of a local railroad club. Don and I spent a bit of time between clinics talking to Jordan about how he does his weathering.

Coffee bean acrylic paint was one tone suggested to us.

One of Jordan's models.

One could also learn about decoder buddy at one of the tables.

Fire Hall - Brick and Wood

My AHM fire hall has one brick wall and all else is wood. Is there a prototype for that mix of materials...yes there is in Mooretown, Ontario.

When I built my AHM firehall I only had one wall which was brick so I decided to use wood siding for the rest of the structure. I was told a couple of times these structure would never had looked like this. To my surprise when I visited the Mooretown museum they had a fire hall they moved there next to the train station that actually has a brick front and all else is wood...guess my structure construction worked out well...George Dutka  

Mooretown Fire Hall at the museum in town.

The hose drying tower.

Back and side walls

Under construction.

Wordless Wednesday No. 595

 

    

Road Trip

Don Janes and I will be away from Wednesday to Saturday attending the NER - NMRA convention in Rochester, NY. A recent decision to go. I will not be posting anything for a few days after Wednesday...see you when we return...George Dutka   

Bellows Crossing

This might be the last time I take a photo of Bellows Crossing as it has looked since I built the layout. I snapped this view with my cell phone the other morning. Oh that is my new Rapido 44 tonner being tried out also...a really nice unit.

I keep saying I am going to take out the crossing and put in an interlocking with a bit of switching possibilities. Well this is the winter that this will happen. I have begun removing some of the details that will be in the way, with more to be set aside carefully...George Dutka   

Stonetown Model Railroad Association

This scene will be one of the locations in St. Mary's area that CN switches.

A few more views of Don and I visiting the Stonetown group in St. Mary's, Ontario....George Dutka

This sign hangs at the far end of the layout. I don't think it ever was used by the CN. 

This is an interesting faded and graffiti car.

A mock-up of a freighter in Goderich harbor, one of the scenes they plan to model.

B&M Rapido 44 Tonner

These B&M Rapido engines sold fast in my area leaving me with only one number choice...117.

Maybe two weeks ago (I'm loosing track of time these days) I picked up a Rapido B&M 44 tonner. It is a big improvement over my Bachmann model. The sound is great and it runs fine although the momentum is a bit slower than normal for Rapido engines. Now to get a bit of weathering on it...George Dutka 

St. Mary's and Stratford road trip

VIA 84 arriving St. Mary's

Don Janes and I got together on Tuesday for a bit of a road trip to the St. Mary's area. He had two engines to drop off for a weathering job at the St. Mary's railroad club. We planned to arrive just ahead of VIA 84 so we could see and photograph it at the station. This was the second time in a month that I caught a train stopping at the station. There was a nice crowd waiting to board that day.  

Next it was over to the local community center to drop off the engines at the Stonetown Railway Association Club. The HO layout on the left side of the room is all new. It is DCC powered and also signaled and a long way from what once was there. The membership is really small though, only 4 members...but they seem ambitious. It will be interesting to see how the layout turns out.

Next stop was the station in Stratford. We got lucky as the GEXR power was tied up out front of the station. It appears it did not run this day to Goderich. The last few times by here it was quite and empty., so seeing the power was nice. From there we headed over to Paris and the CN main line which did not result in any action. With the afternoon almost gone and a bit of a drive home we called it a day...George Dutka

Don checks out the Stonetown modeling groups layout which is double and triple decked in areas. Their is an old O scale layout seen to the right which is operated and owned by one of the members father. I think the group has been here for over 40 years.

Although the layout is far from complete there is a good amount of detailed and weathered equipment there.

One can see the old sign when the club was open to the public. Today with the rebuild an appointment is required.

GEXR power on layover in Stratford,