UNPX marked Cadomin Cars

Keith MacCauley passed along these extra photo to go along with his post last week. He indicates that these are the post 1976 built cars that were made artificially longer to comply with E60 Cooper Loading rules...George Dutka   

Amherst Ma. Station - ITLA Kit

A number of years ago ITLA offered a replica of the current appearance of the CV Amherst station. It is a nice model that I actually have, but still need to build. This model was on a modular layout this winter I visited at the Springfield train show. Mine will be modeled as it looked in the 1950's and 60's...George Dutka 

CV - New London, Ct.

It is 1983 with CV engines 4548-4924 are handling a van hop train this day. Theodore W. Bossert.

A look down into the yard at New London, Ct. the end of the line for the Central Vermont at the south end...George Dutka 

My Structures - Base Paint collection

Home Hardware Camo Coat spray cans are a nice option to paint your models. I have used all four of these. From left to right are Kaki, black, dark brown and olive. Olive is a green shade which I now use to paint my milk cars as it is pretty close to Pullman green. I can change the shade a bit using PanPastel powders. 

I recently had a back and forth e-mail discussion with Bob Van Gelder of South River ModelWorks regarding the base colors I use on my structures. Here is a bit of what I use. I also have some flat black spray cans I purchased at Walmart in the US a number of years ago for 99 cents each which works great too on structures. I stocked up on it back then...probably it costs lot more now...George Dutka 

Home Hardware in Canada has two primers that have worked good from me. They are grey and Red Oxide. I think these are available at Home Depot also.

These four tru-color paint spray cans are great to use. I don't have any problems with thickness or plugged tips.

Highbury Ave over CPR - 1957

When I lived off Hale St. in the 1970's a short drive from this location I remember my father in law telling me then that this area was out in the country and rural less than 20 years ago.

A work crew is seen atop the Highbury Ave-Canadian Pacific Railway overpass, as demolition begins on the old wooden structure. This view is looking south toward Dundas Street. Highbury Ave had been a two lane dirt road, one lane southbound and one lane northbound, but with the expansion of the City of London in the 1950s and into 1960s, it was necessary to have a 4 lane road to handle the projected traffic increases.

Now, almost 70 years later this overpass will be expanded to handle 6 lanes of traffic, with 2 lanes each direction for vehicle traffic and one lane each direction for public transit vehicles.  

July 9, 1957

London Free Press Negative Collection, Western University Archives, courtesy of Mike Rice  

SI Group - Rotterdam Jct.

Steve Myers photo, thanks Steve.

I thought this is an interesting shot I found on Steve Myers Facebook who also posts on the B&M Facebook page. Here is what he had to say about the car and Oh the plant is still working....George Dutka

SI Group/Schenectady International/Schenectady Chemical Company/Schenectady Varnish Works is at 1000 Main St., Rotterdam Junction, NY served by the B&M. The B&M turntable was located inside the industry in the 1970's.

This is what I saw on January 23, 2025 of the industry at Rotterdam Junction. George Dutka photo.

Wordless Wednesday No. 621

 

      

Weathering!

Photo by Hunter Hughson

Hunter recently posted this nice article on Facebook. His Facebook group called "Hunter Hughson's Crosstown Pickup" is what he is now using in place of his blog ...George Dutka

by Hunter Hughson 

Wet sanding to degrade the factory lettering, then mostly airbrush work for the paint failure and rust effects on the sides and ends. For this project I used Tamiya colours with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner and fine tip on the airbrush. I worked with dark reds and dark greys to come up with three rusty oxide colours for that bit.

The roof (which you can't see well in this photo) started with thinned blue/grey airbrushed over the entire roof (masked off of course) to tone down the factory silver followed by a simple enamel wash: AK grime wash over the whole roof followed by a rust color along the edge where the roof meets the side.

Reweigh patch is gloss black airbrushed using a cue-card mask held just off the surface of the model so the edges are slightly feathered. Decals for the new weights added to the patch then a light brushing of gloss to seal them in. COTS and Kartrak decals applied gloss patches that were brushed on. All of the glossy bits were blended in at the end when the final coat of clear flat was applied. Very light weathering over the new weight data but none applied to the COTS and Kartrak decals. I wanted those to look like they've only been on the car for a short time.

Trucks are were airbrushed with a dark grey then dark oxide coloured enamel washes.

Peace

A bit more about Peter Mumby

CP London, Ontario. Peter Mumby railfanning with Peter MacCauley during November 2010. Photo by Peter MacCauley. 

Since mentioning the passing of Peter Mumby I got a few nice e-mail...here are two that I would like to share...George Dutka

I remember that Peter always had the first table on the right hand side as you entered Marritt Hall in the old Ancaster Fair Grounds site. Not sure if he requested that spot, but I have to believe that it served him well. Peter always had a great selection of kits, always reasonably priced. I usually found something that I needed, even if it was only a handful of photos. Peter was one of the rare photographers who shot freight cars.

Over the years we would compare notes and I was excited to tell him that I had secured a position working for Procor. I think that Peter was equally proud to tell me that his son worked for Canadian National. I've often wondered if Peter's interest in model railways served as inspiration for his son to pursue the real thing? Certainly true in my family!

I remember the handwritten sale slips he used. If I recall correctly, Peter was somewhat reluctant to embrace digital record keeping and the Internet at first. Being that he was a teacher, this seemed somewhat odd to me. I don't think that he had any interest in eBay.

Hard to believe how much time has gone by. Peter (my son) reminded today me that our first time selling was in 2011 at the then new Ancaster Fair location. For the last couple of years Peter, Mark and I have been helping Rick (the Ancaster show coordinator) set up the tables and clean up afterwards. Even harder to believe that Rick used to let both Peter and later Mark into the shows for free when they were very young. Boy, do I feel old all of a sudden!! Keith MacCauley

Hi George - Thank you for the post and the photos today on WRD about Peter Mumby. My dad and I really miss not seeing him at the shows anymore. Here is a photo I took in London in November 2010 with Peter at CP Quebec street; still one of my favorite days of railfanning.

Dad and I visited Peter at his house last year, I think in August. It was really good to talk with him again, and he had a lot of really cool RR memorabilia he was showing us. He told us that almost all of the HO models he painted he did using a Volkswagen spare tire as the air supply to his airbrush! I thought that was incredibly creative. We had known him for years from the shows, but I didn't realize he was that good a modeler. Cheers, Peter MacCauley.

An oldy goldy of Peter and I. This photo was taken of the Thames Valley Modular Railroad Club that both Peter and I where members of in the early 1980's. I had setup a visit to the CN shops in London, Ontario. We posed for a group photo...I think the shopman took the photo. Peter is in the red jacket under the number 7 and I am in the plaid jacket second from the right side next to the 7 in the number boards. That is Bob Hannah a good friend of ours standing next to me in the red jacket.

Another March 2025 - Update

May 6, 1996 at Essex, Ct. Bruce Douglas collection.

A mix of what I am up to and photos or just information I thought I could share with you...here it is.

First off Otter Valley Railroad hobby shop in Tillsonburg, Ontario has mentioned they will be carrying Martin Welberg Studio scenery. This is a very nice product to use and I am looking forward to be able to acquire it locally. I normally have to get it at the January Springfield train show...George Dutka

I had purchased my pass and made a plan for  which layouts I would see while attending the Kitchener layout tour yesterday. The weather called for a cold day there with lots of rain and freezing rain later in the day. I did the tour last year in the rain and it was no fun...so I stayed home and took in some of my grandkids events and visited our local hobby shop that I have not been to since before Christmas.

Another cell phone photo from 2019. I played around with the phone settings back then to come up with this view of Don Janes layout.

I picked up this AK wash which is kind of a greenish tone at Broughdale's today. Will have to see what I can do with this shortly. I was at my grand daughter's Volleyball tournament yesterday which was very close by the hobby shop.

My FOS garage is getting done slowly. I get easily side tacked with other projects, but it should be done next week.

I picked up this old 40' gondola at Broughdale's for a few bucks. It is a Crown model from Hong Kong from years ago. I will turn it into a MEC pulpwood car similar to the one I purchased at Springfield this year. I will be modeling this one empty with the wooden flooring the MEC added showing. The flooring had large gaps between the floor boards so the waste can fall through.

All the couplers and trucks are removed and will be replaced. The ladder and grabs are scraped off. The stirrup's were missing which is OK as I would have cut them off.

I cut out the side to the floor using my hobby knife and razor saw. Now to file it down smooth. I got this far with the project in about an hour yesterday once I got home from the volleyball tournament. I guess I was a little motivated yesterday after canceling my trip to the Kitchener layout tour. Will see how today goes and my motivation continues. 

Phone Photos

This is a section house on Don Janes Green Mountain Division.

My daughter was going through my phone while we were in Florida last week looking for family photos she did not have. These two photos are from a batch I took when I first got my phone in 2019. Actually they are the first on the phone...George Dutka

Another angle of the structure which is a laser kit. 

PROCOR Rock Limestone Covered Hopper Cars

Canadian Rail No. 278 March 1975 Image taken from Canadian Rail Publication March 1975.

By Keith MacCauley

Among the more unfamiliar designs of covered hopper cars (AAR designated ‘LO’) were a series built by Procor beginning in 1969. Most likely inspired by the so called ‘Barrel’ Ore cars constructed by NSC in 1967, the small 2,100 cu. ft. capacity cars, would spend their entire lives in relative obscurity moving limestone minerals two hundred miles from a mine in Cadomin (SE of Hinton, AB) to a cement processing plant located in NW Edmonton (CN Bissell Yard). Similar to the NSC built ore cars, they operated in unit train fashion. Constructed by Procor at their Oakville Ontario plant between 1969 and 1980, the cars were lifetime leased to Inland Cement.

While comparable in appearance to the NSC built cars, the Inland LO’s featured in motion loading and unloading. Copying the NSC roof geometry the Inland cars were equipped with full length rectangular hatches fitted with rubber-tired masts. Scroll assemblies located pre-loading and post loading opened and closed the hatches as the cars moved through the filling operation. Track beneath the loading tipple was on a 2.5% grade. Disconnected from the motive power, the cars moved through the tipple by gravity. Connected to plant air, the cars were advanced manually and positioned using their onboard air brakes. At the destination cement plant, unloading was accomplished by indexing each car over a pit. Horizontal sprockets equipped with cams and levers connected by a chain loop operated full length bottom doors. Placed beneath the center sill the sprocket cams were engaged by angle iron fixtures placed between the rails to open and close the doors. The bottom doors were positioned such that the limestone payload, known as ‘rock limestone’, was dumped outside the rails through grating into a pit.

Initial estimates of the available limestone reserve were that the mine would play out in just over half a century. While this would indicate a ceasing of operations in the early 2020’s, Google earth images show current ongoing activity. Between 1969 and 1980 Procor constructed some 181 so called ‘rock limestone’ cars. Owing to revised bridge loading requirements (known as Cooper E60), cars built post 1976 were made artificially longer while maintaining the same overall capacity. Related to mayhem during unit train operation, a handful of the later built cars were constructed as wreck replacements. The line from Cadomin to Edmonton has portions with severe grades. As a result, Canadian National stipulated that the cars be equipped with a higher braking ratio, i.e. higher braking forces. Nevertheless, on one occasion the unit train ran away uncontrolled and derailed with a handful of cars careening deep into a canyon. In the aftermath some of the derailed cars were repaired and returned to service, while others are, in theory, still in the canyon. At its peak, operation of the unit trains (CN U894/895) involved sixty-car consists, scheduled twice per week. Some four hundred thousand tons of limestone were transported annually.

Initially constructed with UTCX reporting marks, early on the Procor rock limestone cars were remarked UNPX. In the mid to late 1990’s, acknowledging a revised lease structure with Lehigh Hanson, the cars were remarked with PWCX reporting marks. Through mergers and acquisitions, Inland Cement became Lehigh Hanson and today is known as Heidelberg Materials; see https://www.heidelbergmaterials.us/about/history. Simultaneously, in the mid 1990’s the AAR Gross Rail Load (GRL) limit increased from 263,000 lbs to 286,000 lbs. Owing to the forty-year eligible life limit of the initial build of cars (built pre-July 1, 1974) and with no opportunity to increase the capacity of a closed car body, the diminutive covered hopper cars were removed from service 2008/2009. As mentioned, the limestone mineral to cement processing operation continues. The highly specialized LO’s were supplanted by 2,300 cu. ft. Trinity built open top hoppers cars (AAR Class HTS), equipped with rapid discharge outlet gates. Apparently, the need to keep the minerals out of the elements and dry was overcome. For a relatively brief period the two groups of cars were intermixed. Current Google earth images of the Heidelberg Materials installation show several dozen of the HTS’s cued up for off-loading. Photos of both the Procor built (UNPX/PWCX) and Trinity built (PWCX) can be found online at https://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/  and https://www.rrpicturearchives.net/

UTCX 44670a1

Built 10/1969 (first car built); renumbered UNPX 121600

Bottom UTCX 44670b1

gate opened

UTCX 44670c1

Bottom gate closed

UTCX 44670c1

Bottom gate closed

UTCX 44670e1

Bottom gate opening fixture

UTCX 44670f1

Bottom gate closed

UTCX 44670g1

Unloading pit. Note the fixture shown in the top of the photo, I believe employed as a car shaker to dislodge any frozen minerals

Among the more unfamiliar designs of covered hopper cars (AAR designated ‘LO’) were a series built

by Procor beginning in 1969. Most likely inspired by the so called ‘Barrel’ Ore cars constructed by

NSC in 1967, the small 2,100 cu. ft. capacity cars, would spend their entire lives in relative obscurity

moving limestone minerals two hundred miles from a mine in Cadomin (SE of Hinton, AB) to a

cement processing plant located in NW Edmonton (CN Bissell Yard). Similar to the NSC built ore

cars, they operated in unit train fashion. Constructed by Procor at their Oakville Ontario plant between

1969 and 1980, the cars were lifetime leased to Inland Cement.

While comparable in

March 2024 - Update

Boston and Maine Ry....BAM! Steve Myers found this on Facebook and added it to his collection. Thanks Steve.

Hi all just some views that were sent my way over the past month...enjoy the views...George Dutka

Ian Stronach's son Tom was in Enosburg Falls Vt. recently and took this photo of the caboose that is on display at the museum.

The generic freight house is an Osborn N scale kit that my friend Gary Pembleton is working on.

St. J&LC 2-8-0 engine no. 41 once a B&M engine. Bruce Douglas collection.

Began a FOS garage kit at the WOD/NMRA Craftsman Corner earlier this month at the Kitchener train show.

At the Kitchener Show Roger Chrysler was working on CPR 36' boxcars in company service using Accurail boxcars. I really like the weathering on this one which was done using AK pencils just streaked down. He wet the steaks a bit to blend it all in.

Wordless Wednesday No. 620

 

Photo by Geoff Southwood 

 

CNR - Georgetown, Ontario

A couple of postcard views of Georgetown, Ont. I have not been there in years. I am thinking maybe a trip might be in order to check out the station area and railfan too as the CN Halton sub can get busy at times. The junction with the Guelph sub is also located just west of the station called Silver...George Dutka          

Caboose Office

The last of three cars Peter Mumby gave me that needed some work is completed. This MEC Life Like caboose had too many issues to get it back to operating condition. I decided to make it a yard office. I began by adding some graffiti in the form of calk marks which would have been the normal in that era.

I also added a lot of detail to the ground around the caboose and some additional things on the roof. The caboose was missing two steps and some of the handrails which are on the other side of the model which is OK as it will only be viewed from one side...George Dutka   

The caboose has a lot of rust included and trash around the base. All is glued to the model making it a drop-in scene. 

Some ground foam and weeds are also included in the mix.

ITLA Outhouse - Updated

 

t normally take me some time to get back and add a bit extra to models I just completed. But this one was an easy chore. I added a tarpaper roof made from construction paper and stained the walls brownish with PanPastels...George Dutka