New Haven Station

I spent one evening taking a few views of my Rutland and VTR power on the WRD. Thought this one looked good.    

Throwback Thursday - Roof Details

 

DUPX 38318 was displaying an unusual profile at Belleville, Ontario on July 18, 1995.

By Peter Mumby. 

I have always appreciated opportunities to take down-on photographs of railway equipment.  Shooting from overpasses or embankments adjacent to the right of way allows us to document roof details and study weathering effects and differences in colouration.  Today’s photo illustrates a less typical way to go about recording roof details - but it still gets the job done!

Wordless Wednesday No. 612

 

      

Switching Marmora

It's the 1950's and the conductor stays behind aboard the True Line Trains CNR caboose which is parked out front of the Marmora station while the crew runs a boxcar up the branch into town.

Marmora CNR station was actually located about 3 miles outside of town. A spur ran into town from Marmora Jct. The branch was abandoned in the late 1950's...George Dutka    

Marmora

An overall look at the roof prior to me building the order board. I used three tones of acrylic gray's then overcoated with PanPastels. It makes the roof much more interesting than it once was.

A couple more views of Marmora station model as work continued on it before Christmas...George Dutka  

An end view of the station. I overcoated the sides with PanPastel red iron oxide extra dark. I did not touch the windows as they looked good as-is. They are 12 panel Campbell's with styrene trim cut to match the prototype. I originally painted the structure using Floquil paints. I did build a new platform for the station. A few new signs are added to the structure as seen in prototype photos.

At the Springfield Show

At the Bethlehem booth the 3-D printed train was operating.

Just a few views from the Springfield train show yesterday. It was a good day with a lot of you stopping by to say hello...thanks, it was great to talk to you all...George Dutka

Gator Dave out front of his Gatorfoam booth. He has a great product for using as a base. Dave had an order for both Don and I.

Dave sold all his built structures except for this one which he scratch-built of a round barn structure near Morrisville, Vt.

The gang at the CVRHS booth including long time members Harvey Allen who is now in his 90's and Glen Annis.

I was told the B&M milk car 1908 at North Walpole NH is going to be moved to Troy, NH once funding is in place.

A Mount Blue Modeling Co. offering.

Stopped by Onondaga booth but left saying hello till tomorrow as there was a lot of people there.

The Day Before Springfield Show

It appears the Ft. Erie, Ontario station will be offered as a model shortly.

I spent some of yesterday railfanning, checking out how the setup was going at the train show and out to dinner at the Outback in Springfield West with the gang...George Dutka 

Lots of layouts being assembled.

Scenic Express. Lot of work to assemble their display.

Rapido booth is coming together well mid day.

The gang at the Outback.

Thst's Ian Stronach next to me.

Oh that is Robin on the right all the way over from England. At the end of the night he made a toast to the King.

A Stop at Utica, NY

A WB approaches the station in Utica, NY on Jan 22, 2025. Note the old abandoned tower.

On my way to Springfield on Wednesday afternoon I stopped at Utica, NY. Not a lot happening in town but I did see one WB which came into the picture while I was near the station...George Dutka  

The Adirondack power was running.

Throwback Thursday - On Company Service

CN 43053 was spotted at Komoka on April 17, 1994.

By Peter Mumby.  

Company service box cars often feature a variety of extra details that make them interesting modelling candidates.  Photographed in 1994, CN 43053 still retained its roofwalks as built in 7/44.  A short stack also appears on the roof.  The small lettering to the left of the door states

“Engineering Department

  Generator Clothes Drying”

A step has been added below the sliding door and the electrical conduit on the left side leads to a step light.  An additional electrical conduit appears on the end of the car.

Wordless Wednesday No. 611

 

     

Heading to Springfield!

This ITLA kit is well underway. I wanted to have it part built before heading to Springfield.

Well it has been a couple of years since I last was at Springfield. This year I am there both days at the ITLA booth working on a back alley building flat scene, a kit that will be offered shortly by ITLA. The kit I have it a test run kit that I am assembling without instructions and some missing parts...good this is a test build first, customers don't want to look for parts not included. There are 5 building flat structures to the kit. I have got a good start on the kit this past week as there might be more talking and shopping at the show than actual building. The basics are all done but there is a lot of painting and detailing to be done at the show, and to show anyone that asks.

So if you are at the show stop by ITLA booth and say hello and check out the kit I am working on and of course all the other ITLA offerings. If you don't see me stop by later as I can only sit so long in the chairs they provide...I won't wander too far away though. I will be staying close by the ITLA booth on Saturday as I am connecting with a few friends through the day. The outer buildings I will check out on Sunday.

I will be off on my trip beginning Wednesday so posts might be thin for a bit...George Dutka

The parts and mock-up builds that Nick dropped off about a week ago.

The kit gives you the option of cutting down the structure sizes to get a staggered look to the buildings. I began by painting and weathering the base which is modeled as concrete.

This side of the wall shows there once was something attached. The structures can be placed in any order. For now this wall is hidden.

The garbage bins, cans and skids are all ITLA details. There is a really nice sign package that gives you some options.

Snow Day

 

My sister sent me this photo taken in 1978 of a winter we have not seen in a long time here in Southwestern Ontario. Think if is from the London Free Press. Check out the drift being cleaned out in front of the train. I did not get any of the details but not something I want to come across on a train.  

Rapido - PRR and B&O Cars

Out on the WRD layout.

I finished my two Rapido boxcars, PRR X23 boxcar and B&O FGE R7 reefer last month. They both just required painting the wheels, flat finish and light weathering. The B&O reefer would have been fairly new as it was refurbished and painted in 1954...George Dutka   

Great looking cars which add a bit of variation to my freight car fleet.

 

CN 539418

Keith MacCauley sent me a short bio and a short post...welcome aboard Keith...George Dutka  

I have worked for some 30+ years in the Procor Ltd. Fleet Engineering group. As information, Procor is the Canadian arm of Union Tank Car, part of the Marmon Group of companies owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The Procor portfolio of equipment is comprised of some 30,000 tank and specialty freight cars. My wife says that I'm the only person she knows that turned a hobby into a lifelong career!

CN 539418

Built by Eastern Car Company (ECC) in January of 1956. Aside from a repaint into the 1961 'CN' scheme, appears to be unmodified since construction. Note the ACI label and white dot (non approved wheels). The car appears to be employed as a storage container for the Stuart Street Yard; chalked 'TOOL CAR GANG #1'.  Once a common practice, seemingly retired rolling stock is no longer employed for such service.

Rapido - PRR X23 Boxcar and B&O FGE R7 Reefer

 

The paint fail effect is done lightly on this car. One can see the PanPastels are applied on one side of the roof already. The wood running boards are left looking unpainted.

Here we have my two Rapido cars being weathered. As mentioned before they are done lightly which did not take me much time to complete. Flat finish is applied first to help hold the PanPastels. The wheels and trucks are painted Vallejo rust texture. Roof is painted acrylic Craftsmart Graphite followed by PanPastel raw umber shade and red iron oxide shade. Running boards are Folkart barnwood acylic paint with a coating of PanPastel raw umber shade...George Dutka

The PanPastel colors used on the sides. I did add some chalk marks first. I had some meat reefer chalk marks I used on the B&O reefer. Placards are also added once weathering is done. 

The completed cars. The sides are really lightly weathered and the roofs too.

Out and about. 

Throwback Thursday - Serves All Canada

 

CN 72616 was present in a line of company service equipment at Komoka, Ontario on April 17, 1994.

By Peter Mumby.

The CN noodle logo was introduced in January of 1961.  That means that, by the time this company service boxcar was photographed in 1994, the green leaf logo was more than thirty years out of date.  Even the slogan no longer applied, since by the end of the 1980s CN had withdrawn from both Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.  Somehow a slogan like “Serves Eight Out of Ten Canadian Provinces” just wouldn’t cut it.  As modellers, however, we can appreciate the opportunity to incorporate outmoded paint schemes into a relatively modern setting.  

Wordless Wednesday No. 610

 

       

Cheshire Wreck

When I posted the photos and information that Ken Borg sent me last week there was a location error. I had a few followers send me a note. Kevin Smith sent me this follow-up photo and a note from Scott Whitney. I shortened the note a bit...George Dutka

As for the location, the accident happened at Walpole proper, just north of the depot. The thing here is this, the section crew was there that day. They may have been out cleaning the switches before the arrival of 5506. The train would have been travelling at track speed, 5506 did not stop at Walpole. The official blame was "on ice" but I know better. I firmly believe the section crew left the house track switch misaligned sending 6000 into the spur. It hit the derail and although usually designed to not derail. Inbound 6000 at that speed popped over the outside of the rail anyway. 

The train hit a building on the right which appears to have ice blocks scattered around. Maybe an ice house before coming to rest in the freight house. I'm positive the train is on the house track, not the main, as is so commonly discussed. The good old boys blamed ice but they are covering for each other...SJW.  

CV 8081

CV 8081 appears to be freshly painted with the safety first shop sign attached up top. I have an Atlas model of this unit which looks no were this clean. One can read about it in the current Jan 2025 RMC.

Keith MacCauley passed along another CV photo. This time it is a view taken by Bruce Curry who was involved with the CVRHS and RRHS back in the 1990's. Here is Keith's comments. Oh and by the way thanks to all that stopped by to check out the blog yesterday...it was a record day of 3265 visits...George Dutka

You mentioned CV S-4 CV 8081 a past post. Attached is a photo of CV 8081 from my sons Peter's collection. The photographer is BP Curry of Ottawa based on the photograph. The following information is from a recent Facebook Fallen Flag Railroads post.

CV8081 was built 9/1955, retired/sold to K&L Feeds 12/1987 then donated to the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum in 1997...Keith

Snapshot - January 2025

CNR 86 is one of a few of this class. It is preserved out front of the Fairground weekend market. It sure looks frosty today. Others from this group are at Palmerston, North Conway NH and Strasburg, Pa. I did not take a good look at the engine but I was just told the engine received a new coat of paint back in the fall.

A second post for today. Out and about this morning to the fair ground market. I took a photo of the CNR steam engine out front which looked frosty today. Also caught VIA 84, the Sarnia to Toronto EB via Kitchener and Stratford at London Jct....George Dutka

VIA 84 crossing Rectory St. has a frosty nose today.

VIA 84 EB at London Jct departing the Dundas Sub onto the Guelph Sub.