Grimsby, Ontario

An overall view of the Grimsby station area. The underpass that is being worked on is to the right of the photo. Not the best day for photos...but I did what I could.

At one time Grimsby had a very nice station which was released as a model some years ago by ITLA. I believe the station model is still available. Today it still is a VIA station stop but with a small VIA shelter. The old freight shed still stands and it has been converted into a school. It looks very good and should last a long time. There was no trains running this day as a bridge section had been removed from the underpass for replacement. It appears to be one track at a time. I noted later in the day a message at the St. Catharine's station mentioning no GO trains today...George Dutka     

The freight house is now a Montessori School. November 19, 2024

The original freight doors are left as-is. The colors are still visible on all the doors.

Lots of the underbody of the freight house remains original but with extra support.

No GO trains today.

ITLA Wheel Painting Mask

 A Great Way To Paint Wheel Sets.....by Don Janes

Rapido wheels sets painted in the mask  

      Back in the summer I ordered the Tri-State Fabricating kit from Nick at ITLA.  When I stopped by to pick it up we got into a discussion about painting wheel sets and the masking jigs that were available.  I had been using plastic (possibly acrylic) masks from American Model Builders which come for 33" or 36" wheel sets.  They make several different ones for the various wheel manufacturers such as KD, Intermountain and others since there are slight variations in the diameter of these sets.  I have had good luck using them but it seems like after using them for a while they become brittle and tend to break.  I am not sure if it is due to lacquer based paints attacking the plastic or what but they all ended up breaking at various locations on the jig.  The very thin area around the wheel is very prone to breaking.  

Three different masks have one of the wheel holders break

     I mentioned this to Nick and asked him if he could make something similar out of wood on his laser cutting machine.  I said I thought it should be much more durable than the plastic ones.  Nick told me he would look into laser cutting one and see how it would work out.  Well, fast forward to last week when I received a package of parts from Nick in the mail and inside was a 33" wheel mask he had designed and cut for me. It consisted of two main sections to hold the wheels and several tab and slot pieces that are spacers to get the correct width for the wheel sets.  Another neat thing he incorporated into the design were small tabs on the sides to mount the truck frames on so they can be painted at the same time. A very good idea.  The mask also has the wheel size cut right into the jig so you can see what wheel size it is for. The entire assembly took about five minutes.

This photo shows the assembled mask and the spacers.  The assembly took about five minutes.

Here we see the mask with a pair of TLT truck frames and wheel sets.

     I tried KD, Intermountain and Rapido wheel sets in the mask and all fit nicely.  I did notice the the TLT wheels were a little tighter but still fit in the holes.

The Rapido 33" wheels fit perfectly on the mask holes and were painted dark brown

The extra length of the jig provides a good handle while painting

     I decided to give it a try and painted a set of Rapido wheel sets and it worked great.  There is enough flex to get the wheel sets in place but it is stiff enough to hold them while painting.  The tool has a long handle so you have lots to hold onto and still not get any paint on your hands, a feature lacking with the smaller plastic masks.  I have painted several other wheel sets with good results.  All in all, I really like the masking tool and hopefully Nick will produce another tool that holds 36" wheels which are common on most passenger cars and a lot of the newer freight cars on the rails today.  Hats off to Nick for producing such a good masking tool.  Drop Nick a line at ITLA if you are interested in buying one of these tools.

*Note* I have no affiliation with ITLA, I just like their products.

Tiny Railroads - St. Catherines

 

Tiny Railroads is in a small plaza close to downtown St. Catherines.

I was staying in Jordan at a lakefront hotel awhile back doing the tourist stuff. I also had the opportunity to stop in at Tiny Trains. It is kind of a neat mix of new and used trains, structures and kits. I did find a few items such as Tichy milk cans, Slate roofing by Northeastern models at a great price and a used/new B&M boxcar. There was some great prices on DCC sound New England engines which I held back on...George Dutka  

If you like vintage rolling stock there was a lot on one side of the shelves.

Hunterline stains, PanPastels, shingles and stripwood was plentiful. 

A good selection of craftsman used structure kits.

New Rapido Video

Check out this new Rapido video. There will be another post later today...George Dutka  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMH321pWKrI 

Got Milk?

The roof is made of the original to hold it in place as a removable and a piece of styrene which will be painted and tarpaper added.

My milk platform was a nice little project that did not take long to build. I think it turned out well considering some changes to the kit was made. I found the tabs that hold the structure to the decking did not work well, so I cut them off and just glued it on. Also the roof I feel is quite small for the structure. I made it bigger using the original as the underside that aligns it for dropping in. The new roof is styrene scraps. I have enlarged the roofs on a number of kits. I sometimes feel the companies are trying to squeeze too much into their sheeting. More on this structure tomorrow...George Dutka

Early construction.

Almost ready for stain. Doors are added after the walls are completed.

The structure was coated with India ink and alcohol. I then added AK neutral gray followed by washes of AK slimy gime dark and wash for wood.

The interior is about done. More milk cans will be added. I built two small desks to hold the paperwork.

I added some signs around the structure that would have fallen off milk cars. They appeared to loose their metal signs at times. I also added a station sign for my collection of New England signs. The rust on metal parts are Bragdon powders. Having the door open and roof removable really adds to the look of the structure.

Winter is Coming!

 

Here we have my milk shed and platform I built with a removable roof. In this shot I had added the milk cans that came with the kit. It needs a lot more. I am currently out of Tichy milk cans so I will be adding Juneco ones. The roof was not built yet when I took this photo. The original rood and the new styrene one can be seen partly to the left of the photo.

Just got out my new mug for this winter from Giant Tiger and my winter blend Tim Horton's coffee. The GC Laser milk station is complete...more on it to come...George

What's in the box? Well what was in the package is more like it. It seems like a lot but really if you take away the interior bracing there is not that much. The instructions are minimal but the drawings help. It is not a hard  kit to complete. I began the build at the WOD-NMRA craftsman corner during our area fall Woodstock train show. 

Throwback Thursday - CN North Bay

 

The CN North Bay station was photographed on August 29, 1990.

By Peter Mumby.  

First opened in 1916 by the Canadian Northern Railway, the North Bay railway station served passengers until 1990.  From 1921 until 1990 it served as a Union Station along with the Ontario Northland (originally Temiskaming and Northern Ontario) Railway.  In 1986 ownership of the facility was transferred to Via Rail, but the cancellation of all Via service through North Bay in 1990 made this a short term arrangement.  By the mid 1990s CN had ceased all freight activity on this line and the trackage was subsequently removed.  The structure still stands today as a heritage station.

Wordless Wednesday No. 604

 

       

Coke Cooler

I saw this Coke cooler for sale in an antique store in Muskoka this summer. I took a few view of it as the wear and tear on it was interesting and maybe something to add to our modeled cooler or signs...George Dutka      

Snapshot - November 2024

A freshly painted GTW boxcar is covered in tagging. What a shame...what is happening to our society?

While out with Don Janes on November 12, 2024 we stopped at Woodstock about 1230 to see what might come by. It was not long when a CN EB passed the station with two units and a variation of rolling stock. One of the cars near the head end caught my eye. It was a GTW (CN) boxcar that was newly painted. It still had a nice shine but the taggers had already done their job with many spray can markings...I really hate these days of defacing equipment and buildings...George Dutka 

CN EB at Woodstock, Ontario Nov. 12, 2024. CN 5696 is showing its age.

November 2024 - This and That

We were all given a shopping bag at Rapido's 20th Anniversary day. There was a very nice bus poster, a pin, a ticket for the day and the updated listing of models out or just about to be released. 

Just a bit of what I saw or found out the last few weeks. While visiting Pat Rivard's O scale layout recently I found the height of his layout was very impressive to view. Pat has the rail height set at 54" which is something I am considering for an upcoming On30" module. I have a 6' long N scale diorama which I might mount on the wall at that height also. 

While visiting Otter Valley Hobby shop with Don last week we were told that spray can paints are being restricted entry into Canada. So if you are looking for paint or for both Don and I flat clear and gloss finish, you better stock up while you can. I am sure at some point that will be all straightened out...but for now this can be a pain...George Dutka

I built this milk platform kit recently that had interior bracing which one adds to the interior walls. I thought it should be accessible to see so I made the roof removable. Some signs, milk cans, signs, a broom, a shelf for milk can billing and newspapers are found inside. More on this structure shortly.

I am working on four Pola relay boxes for another diorama. They all got a bit different style of paint and weathering. Here is one on the layout. Another post will follow regarding these.

This relay shanty is done with a darker base color.

Don and I stopped at Otter Valley Railroad on Tuesday and I picked up two new Rapido offerings. One is a PRR X23 boxcar while the other is a B&O FGE R7 reefer.

The PRR X23 is modeled as it looked after 1940.

The B&O FGE R7 is modeled as it looked after 1954. Both are nice looking models that will get some paint and PanPastel weathering shortly.

I have a wooden kit model I purchased already built decades ago that I finally got around to working on. I changed out the door to look like what I have seen on a John Nehrich model and prototype photos.

This wooden model is no where as nice as the Rapido version but I will decal and finish the model shortly. I did have a decal set aside for this model maybe a decade to two ago...nice to be motivated once again.

Rapido - PRR X31A Boxcars

My main weathering was to the roofs of these two Rapido models. The sides are kept clean looking.

Here is a view of my two Rapido PRR X31A boxcars. I purchased a single and double door boxcar awhile back. I found a couple of views with one being in color during 1952 which views these cars with weathered black roofs. I guess as the paint failed the black (primer or coating beneath?) is showing through. I decided to copy what I could see in this view.

It appeared there was some roof coating failure which resulted in a darker tone which I found neat to model. This was done using dollar store acrylic paints as a wash than overcoated with a brown shade of PanPastels. I think I used two tones for this coating. Each car was done a bit differently...George Dutka        

Rapido 20th Anniversary Celebration

This is the entrance to the radial museum.

On Tuesday Don Janes and I attended Rapido's 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Halton Radial Museum. Don and I have never been there and did not know what to expect but it turned out to be a lot of fun. They had trolleys running all the time. Don and I rode on two different trolley's. We checked out the Rockwood train station and all the equipment in the large structure. I was surprised how big it was and all the interesting trolley's and rolling stock found in there. We got a ticket for burgers, fries and onion rings at the food truck and there was also cake and drinks inside the station.  

Inside the station there was Rapido displays of what is coming up next and what has just been released. One could get a Rapido Christmas mystery box there too if you had $300 plus to spend. Some engines and rolling stock was also on the sale table.

I thought we would only spend maybe an hour there, we were almost 3 hours checking everything out and riding the trolley cars. There is lots to see, this is a sampling of what we saw...George Dutka.

One could go for a bus ride as the Rapido bus was on a schedule. 

The streetcar that followed the one we were on passes the replica flagstop. The original is inside the museum building as they wanted to preserve it as the structure is well worn.

Don is about to board our run back to the station. Part of the original ROW is actually part of the museum's trolley line 

The original Meadowvale flag stop is sheltered.

This will be a big job for the restoration department.

Hard to believe this was still in use up till 1965. Your boss sure did not like you if he sent you out on this in the 1960's instead of the powered motor cars.

Rapido supplied cake, treats and drinks in the Rockwood station. I think maybe 200 attended by the amount of cars in the parking lot. The lot was full.

The food truck was setup on site for burgers, fries and onion rings for the gang. Don and I went over late once the crowd died down...so it turned out to be our supper too.