St J Covered Bridges

June 1977, Gord Taylor photo

St J 1942 WW2 Radio Facebook

St J 1942 WW2 Radio Facebook

WRD Milestone - 500,000 Page Views

GTW on the WRD? Will fill you in shortly.

Yesterday the White River Division blog hit the half million mark. Thanks to all that have stopped by in the past and hope you will keep following the WRD along...George Dutka

Weathering a Hopper

My latest weathering job. An old Varney hopper.

I am still practicing weathering using tubed acrylic paints. I have two old hopper cars that have been in a drawer for at least 25 years that I planned to do something with. Well I did something with them last week. This is an old Varney hopper that got a new Kadee brake wheel before I began with the weathering. Once done I toned it down with a spray of weathered black...George Dutka

A coat of floquil black is over-sprayed on the model.

I went pretty heavy with the rust on this side. A bit of Panpastels had been applied but still needs a light overspray of black.

Essex Steam Train and Riverboat...by Don Janes

The Station at Essex is in beautiful condition and has been decorated in an autumn theme.  This structure was actually the freight house in Essex.

     Ride a Steam Train and a Riverboat

       Back in October my friend Greg Stubbings and I took a trip to New England visiting layouts owned by Kip Grant, Jim Dufour and Chris Adams.  One other attraction we visited was the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat in Essex CT.  The whole week was perfect weather with temperatures pushing 80 and sunny skies.  We arrived in Essex about an hour before our 11am departures giving us plenty of time to wander the grounds and take lots of photos.  We boarded our car, a 1920's era Pullman Parlour car "Great Republic" that had been refurbished to it's original condition.  Travel back then by parlor car was truly luxurious.  After we departed we followed the Connecticut River until we came to the dock where we boarded our boat for a leisurely ride up the Connecticut River. After the boat ride we re-boarded the train for our trip back to Essex.  The sun had moved around a lot since morning so we got a lot more photos not possible in the morning.

     It was a very pleasant experience.  The railroad is kept in pristine condition and the grounds are very neat and clean. Staff went out of their way to help and give us information about the railroad and the riverboat ride.  One of the more interesting aspects of the railroad was 2-8-2 #3025 was built in China in 1989.  I never would have guessed that had I not seen the builders plate on the side of the boiler and the spoked wheels on the tender.  Like everything else at the railroad it was in excellent condition.

After coming from the shop 3025 backs towards our train at the station.

3025 is coupled to the train and ready to depart. Note the old steam roller in the background.

The Essex RR has a couple of these 70 Tonners on their roster, both in excellent condition and painted in New Haven colours.  Here 0903 rests outside the shop

0901 was an interesting locomotive.  I am not sure of its origin but it was busy woking around the shop moving steam locomotive #40, another 2-8-2

Another view of 0901 outside the locomotive shop

Inside the shop the railway is restoring an ex NH NE-5 steel caboose that had been an office at Landon lumber for many years. 

A view of the inside of our passenger car Great Republic during the train ride...Greg Stubbings photo

Further up the line we boarded the riverboat Becky Thatcher for a cruise along the Connecticut River

Back at the railway station Greg got a tour of the cab of 3025 as the fireman watches for signals from the conductor

A little 0-6-0T sits on a display track with a string of various freight cars

This photo of an old CV hopper will come in handy when I go to detail a few of my model hoppers

The PRR N5 caboose is in great shape but unfortunately the ex CNR sleeper Lindsay sittinganext to it is not so good.  Hopefully it will be restored like the other equipment..

When we returned from the train ride 340 had been fired up and was being readied for the next days steam runs

We hung around to watch the next train leave town.  It is hard to believe this locomotive was built in 1989

This old truck was on display next to the station.

Another view of the station and train order signal at the Essex Steam RR

     When we left the Essex RR we headed over to Old Saybrook to watch some trains on the busy Northeat Corridor.  Some shots of what we saw will be on a later post

Walthers Tower

A Walthers kit all done up.

About a year ago I picked up this Walthers tower already built up at a local hobby shop. I had planned to use it as a photo prop but since then have picked up a laser kit of the East Deerfield tower which will work a whole lot better...here is how it looks before and after...it is now gone from the WRD...George Dutka

This is how it looks when I got it home.

All the weathering was done using only 4 PanPastel colours.

I also added a bit of detailed junk and poster to the tower.

Wordless Wednesday No. 257

Rolling Along the WRD

Can you pick out what is wrong with this photo.

Here we have a Rutland Mike heading towards Bellows Falls on the White River Division. Just a good overall view of one area of the WRD. I took this photo after the layout was converted to summer time contemporary era. I needed a few views of the water tank so I set up this Rutland Ry. train scene. One thing I forgot to remove are the two cars from the 1960's and 1970's at the crossing...George Dutka

Horse Tales

This is a scene worth modeling. When was the last time you saw a horse in the back of a pickup truck. There was a time when anything was possible. WW2 Radio Facebook.

When I found this photo it reminded me of a CN pension coffee get together when the gang talked about handling livestock along the line.

Ron mentioned working the CN London-Windsor wayfreight in the early 1970's. Next to the engine and caboose the only car they arrived with in Windsor was a CN baggage car which had a few show or race horses inside destined for Michigan. The car was setoff in the Windsor yard. The NS grabbed the car loading it onto the ferry for a ride across the river.

Ron also mentioned one time while working wayfreight #511 (London to Clinton Jct.) on a weekend, they arrived with a loaded stock car in Hensall.  The farmers waiting for the car asked if the car could be spotted on the main street crossing so they could just unload it there. Well he mentioned it was a scene to see, cattle jumping down out of the car with no ramp and be herded down main street out of town.

In London, Ontario on the south side of the yard is a stock pen which at times had some cattle and such inside. On occasions we would see livestock crossing the street heading to Silverwoods park. Not far from the pens was Cuddy Farms (chicken and turkey slaughter house and processing plant...think they serviced McDonalds at one time) were pens could be found next to the rail yard and of course they also got out and ran through the yard from time to time. I recall a story about an engineman who thought he had a good idea. He caught one of the chickens and put it inside his car till after his shift. Don't need to tell you how his interior looked after having a scared chicken in there for a few hours....George Dutka

Resistance Soldering Saves The Day....by Don Janes

This brass  Van Hobbies CNR caboose was resurrected from a tangled mess after a fall to the concrete floor.

The Tale of Two Brass Cabooses

           An old saying goes something like "spend a dollar to save a dime". Well in my case it was "spend $700 to save a $150 caboose".  Let me explain.  Several years ago I purchased a Van Hobbies CNR brass caboose on eBay.  Normally I would have passed on it since I already had several others but this one was special.  All the other brass offerings had the closely spaced side windows but this one was a rare one featuring the wide window spacing and full underbody detail.  I had to have it for my collection.  It came factory painted in the original Mineral Brown and stacked road name which was a little too old for my modelling era.  I won the bid and once in my possession I proceeded to strip it and paint it in the more modern CN Morency Orange and Mineral Brown scheme with a white Maple Leaf.  Holding my masterpeic in one hand, admiring my paint and decalling job, having just finished spraying on the final coat of flat finish, it proceeded to slip from my fingers onto the cold concrete basement floor. My heart stopped as I frantically looked towards the ground thinking it might have survived the impact. No such luck. It was a tangled mess of sheet brass and fine wire detail parts, roof separated from the sides, broken steps and dislodged cupola.  S*#T.

    Well, that caboose sat in its box for several months as I picked up the pieces of my life and focused on other modelling projects. One day while discussing my misfortune with a friend he suggested I buy a Resistance Soldering outfit.  It would be perfect to repair the caboose since you concentrate the heat to the area being soldered thus preventing the rest of the model from falling apart in your hands. I didn't know anything about such a tool but thought what the heck, and ordered a Hotip unit produced by PBL.  I found a Canadian Dealer in Alberta who sold them and almost $700 later it arrived at my door. 

Here is what I got for my hard earned money.  Looking back I am really glad I made this investment

             You might ask, wouldn't it have been a lot cheaper to just buy another caboose and the answer would be yes, if you can find another one like the one in question.  I can honestly say I have never seen another one offered for sale.  Anyway, I watched the VHS instructional tape that came with the unit, stripped the paint again and set about to repair the caboose.  I worked slowly and methodically repairing one section at a time.  After several evenings the job was complete and I had my caboose back again.. A couple of the see through steps were completely demolished but fortunately I had a set of Sylvan etched brass steps on hand and used them to replace the ruined ones.

     Another trip to the paint shop and the caboose was back in service. Whewww!!!

A view of the other side of the repaired CN caboose

      Fast forward to Springfield, MA 2017.  I was having dinner with some model RR friends on the Friday night before the Big E show.  Sitting next to me was Glenn Annis, a fellow CV modeller.  We got to discussing all  things CV and I mentioned I needed more CV cabooses on my layout but was having trouble finding them. He offered me one that he had.  It seems I am not the only one who has had the misfortune of dropping a prized brass model.  The steps had been broken off and the end was bent but it was mine if I wanted it.  Hell yes, I wanted it.  Well, a few weeks ago while at Jim Dufour's beautiful B&M layout I ran into Bill Badger, a friend of Glenn's.  Bill presented me with the caboose.  I was thrilled. Although the two steps and railings on the cupola end were broken I figured it could be repaired.  The caboose, a PFM offering, came factory painted in the attractive Morency Orange with the green maple leaf.  Unfortunately, to do the repairs the areas had to be free of paint and very clean so I had to strip the model in order to do the soldering. That's OK though as I could repaint it once I was done.  Again, the resistance soldering unit did its job and the caboose is back to it's original state.  I had some CNSig Scalecoat Morency Orange and Mineral Brown paint on hand so was able to paint it the correct colours.  Microscale decals were applied and the caboose is now back in revenue service.
    I wish now I had taken photos of the cabooses before the repairs were made.

CV 4025 after repairs were made and a trip through the paint shop.  The steps on the cupola end were off and end railings badly bent.

Another view of the repaired steps and railings

     As a final note, although the resistance soldering unit was very expensive it really has been worth the money spent.  I have made repairs to several brass steam engines and other rolling stock the couldn't have been done with conventional soldering methods.  At the time I bought it I didn't really do enough research as I have found a couple of other brands on the market at lower prices.  I'm glad to know I have it in case any more brass repairs come along.

Snapshot - November 2017

Rail-fanning the Richford Sub during March 1972. Ian Stronach photo

I recently got a nice group of photos from a trip Ian Stronach took chasing the CV along the Richford Sub. Thought you would like a look also...George Dutka

Ian Stronach photos

Working with Acrylics - Oils

My finished NFR clinic car along with a model done by Jim Sloan.

At the Spring NFR-NMRA convention in Kitchener I sat in on a 2 hour clinic which was a hands on weathering a boxcar...or commonly known as making a rust bucket. The clinic was given by Ralph Renzetti who dug into his stash of cars for us to work on. Following his presentation which he e-mailed to us so we could refresh ourselves when at home, we began with a wash he had mixed up. By the point we all had applied the wash and sponged some off we were out of time.

The car sat on my workbench all summer till I could get back at it this fall. Since the cars already had a coat of dul-coat applied before we started the clinic I decided to give the black areas, roof and ends a coat of alcohol and india ink which gave it a gray grimy look in areas. This was followed with some Acrylic gouache, burnt sienna and burnt umber. I am really happy at my first attempt at modeling a rust bucket...the photos tell the rest of the story...George Dutka

At the NFR clinic we applied a wash over the entire car one area at a time.

Working one side at a time we then sponged off some of the wash using a makeup sponge and windshield washer anti-freeze. The other side was next and last was the roof and ends.

This fall I applied a coat of alcohol and india ink over the black area before I applied some rust spots. I think this process really looks good. I also upgraded the car with a Kadee brake wheel, operating levers  and wire grabs. These I just dabbed with black paint. In this photo the roof is done but the sides need a bit of weathering.

The finished model which also got a coating of PanPastels before entering the WRD fleet.

Year 7 Begins

An old friend came by a few weeks back. I built this engine back in the 1980's for my father-in-law and it was over for a visit.

The beginning of November is the start of year seven for this blog. Modeling is now in full swing with a few quick projects completed. If you are taking in the train shows in SWO stop by Peter's Trains booth and say hello as I will be helping him out at many of the shows.

I have been playing around with acrylic paints the last week or so and will show you a few of my first attempts that I think have turned out better than expected. More prototype photos are in the works as I scan through the slides that Peter has given my from his Gord Taylor collection.

The WRD has been turned back a few decades and is now running in the 1950's. Peter has a few posts in the works and Don had just returned from a trip to New England and when time is available will fill us in...so stop by from time to time and see what we are up to...George Dutka

A extra long caboose hop in Toronto. CP Spadina 1979...George Dutka collection

CP Woodstock back on July 28 1990. It was an era that still had cabooses on CP trains but with TIBS units attached. This was only done for a short time before the cabooses finally came off...George Dutka photo.

A look at my first attempt at acrylic oils.

A DPM model I just finished. It was a completed kit I picked up this spring that got a makeover.

Wordless Wednesday No. 256