Throwback Thursday - GM End-Cab Switchers on CN

CN 7161 is working alongside 1205 at the top end of the London yard near Highbury Avenue.  By the looks of things, the forty foot boxcar was still very much in play on CN in the mid-1980s!

by Peter Mumby

Today's photo gallery includes an SW8 and three variants of that CN railfan favourite, the SW 1200RS.  All were produced by General Motors Diesel in London, Ontario.  The SW8 was built in 1951, and SW1200RS 1357 was a 1959 product.  Although quite different in appearance, both 7106 and 7315 were classed as SW1200RM units, and had been remanufactured in Montreal during 1987.  7106 was ex-1257, and 7315 had been built as CN 1325. 

SW1200RS 1357 was more than forty years of age when it posed for its portrait at the GMD plant in London on August 12, 2000.

Rebuilt in 1987, 7315 was a member of the 7300-7317 group which retained the basic as-built appearance of an SW1200RS.  This photo was shot at London East on March 08, 1988.

CN 7106 was working at London East on January 25, 1993.  The "Sweep" nickname was coined to describe the members of this small group of rebuilds

Wordless Wednesday No. 387

Central Vermont Work Cars

New London, Ct. 1972 Theodore W. Bossert photo. First car on left 4551, 4534 and 4546.

This photo is from the Alan Irwin collection and I believe is now part of the CVRHS collection. A nice looking string of CV work and tool cars still around in the 1970's...George Dutka

Central Vermont 4333

January 1968 Alan Irwin photo.

Another view from Alan Irwin, note the trucks....George Dutka

The Dot

I believe the old sign has been preserved inside.

I recently got the following comments from Bill Badger who went to school in the WRJ area...George Dutka

Hot summer and being tired from Lyme has giving me a chance to catch up on reading and I just got to your article on the Polka Dot Diner, and my past came roaring back. The Dot was the all-night diner in my college days up the road, and when the frat house parties ended and you had the munchies, it was off to the Dot. It was rumored to be possible to catch sexually transmitted diseases from a spoon, but it fit the bill perfectly. At some point, maybe after I had left, The Dot quit being all-night and the Four Aces in West Leb became the place to go, but The Dot had more character and was legend for a number of generations of college students.

One of my favorite stories happened one Saturday night when a couple of guys got in a car and were leaving a frat house late at night when another guy came running out and said, wait for me, climbed in the back and fell asleep. He assumed they were going to The Dot, but to his surprise he woke up in someplace like Detroit. It turns out the guys had girlfriends at U Mich. and decided to road trip. Surprise!

Nice article in addition to a nice prototype. I enjoy all your articles.

Bill

Don Janes and I have not been to the Dot in a long time. Waiting for our breakfast Sept. 2010.

A photo display at WRJ 2011 including the Polka Dot Diner.

A 1950's view.

Central Vermont 4534

CV 4534 Feb. 12 1967 St. Albans, Vermont. Alan Irwin photo.

Alan Irwin sent me some Central Vermont work cars years ago...thought I would share them...George Dutka

St. Thomas, Ontario - Diner

I found this photo of a diner in St. Thomas along the L&PS Ry. next to the station. Kind of a neat structure that one could model...George Dutka

GMD Recollections - Power For the People

These two passenger locomotives were part of the display in front of the GMD plant in London on August 12, 2000.

By Peter Mumby.

On display at the GMD plant on August 12, 2000 were these two examples of passenger power.  GO 539, class GCE-430h, is a 3000 hp F59PH which had been produced in 1990.  Also generating 3000 hp is VIA 6448, class GPA-30c, an F40PH-2 from 1989.  In checking through my photo collection, I found that pictures of the rear end of passenger units are few and far between, so modellers might find this view of 6448 to be a useful reference.  The orange marker lamps are non-standard, and appear to have been applied by CN before they transferred the locomotive from London East up the Guelph Sub to the GMD plant.

Essex Jct. on the Green Mountain Division....Part 2

A Central Vermont freight led by a pair of CNR C-Liners glides through the junction switched in the early morning sun.

Finishing up the scenery....by Don Janes

     In the previous post I showed various stages of developing the junction scene. In this installment I will show some photos of the finished scene with some trains running through it.  Once I was happy with the placement of the structures and background scenery I moved on to finishing the foreground. I already had a layer of basic scenery down (a layer of dirt with some green ground foam) but it needed more texture and detail.  The entire foreground was given a covering of various lengths and colours of static grass to represent open fields that line the tracks. To this I added random patches of different coloured ground foam to represent  weeds and bushes to represent scrub growth that is common along railroad right of ways.  Once that was done it was time to add the water to the small canal and also another stream just around the curve from the junction.

A B&M freight passing the interlocking tower.  The foreground is still in the base layer of scenery

      I have several different rivers on the layout and have tried both Enviro-tex and Woodland Scenics water and prefer the Enviro-tex because I find once it cures it is very hard and water effects can be added to it in layers.  On the other hand Woodland Scenics water takes a long time to dry but never really hardens and if you set something on the water a year later it still leaves a mark in on the surface, even if it is a small item.  There have been many articles about colouring Enviro-tex using lacquer based paint (water based paint will not work) so I decided to tint the pond with a brown to give it a murky look.  I found out the hard way you only need a drop in a batch of Enviro-tex to give it some colour. For my first batch I added way too much brown and the water was way too opaque and brown.  I did end up pouring it in a pond behind the tracks but needed to add another coat on top to change to colour and look of it.  For the canal and the other creek I first poured a batch with just a drop of brown in it, let it cure then poured a batch with just a drop of Floquil B&O Enchantment Blue.  The verdict is still out on this final colour but it will have to do as I am not tearing out and re-doing it. 

This small culvert and pond are just around the curve from the junction. Note the details laying in the water. The pond in the background turned out too dark but being hidden a lot by the bridge doesn't look that bad.

Photos of the two spots where I added the tinted Enviro-tex.  I feel it is a little too blue but will leave it. I may add several layers of Mod Podge to give the water some ripple effects.

      As can be seen it the above photos I have added the static grass and various ground foams to represent weeds and bushes.  I still want to go in and add more brush in the scene.  Another detail one can add is various junk and logs laying in the water.  When I poured the second layer I placed some old barrels, pallets, tires and logs in the water when it when it was still wet. When dry they look submerged in the water.  I didn't overdo it because this is a remote area and there wouldn't be a lot of junk in the water.

     The junction scene is now pretty much finished and I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. Like so many layout projects, I have learned a lot from this one.  Sometimes you just have to go with trial and error when figuring out how to do certain aspects of a project.  I have one more larger river to pour at some point and will use the experience I have gained from this project when finishing up that area.

The canal and pump house at a lower angle.

A few closing shots as a CV passenger train snakes through the junction switches.

CP Switches to Unload

Stored in the CP yard May 16 2020 A neat load to model.

Back in May I watched what was going to happen to a car of switches. As it turned out they were for the CP yard here in London...George Dutka

Being unloaded on May 22, 2020

May 22, 2020

Essex Jct. on the Green Mountain Division....Part 1

Here we see Essex Jct. in its very early stage

Creating a Junction scene ....by Don Janes

          On my Green Mountain Division layout I have been using names of actual railroad locations but for the most part they are not actual replicas of the prototype.  One such location is Essex Jct.  On the real Central Vermont Essex Jct. was where the line to Burlington Vt. split off from the mainline.  On my layout it is where a hidden staging yard and a branch line to Wells River converge on the mainline.  I bought the Monster Model Works kit of the B&M East Deerfield yard tower with the intent on using it as the interlocking tower at this busy junction.  I also wanted to include a water tower and a small area for storing track materials.  The third kit, the Monster Modelwaork Rutland pump house was an after thought. This kit was a lot larger than I thought it would be so I was having trouble figuring out where to put it since most available real estate on the layout had already been spoken for.  Since it was a pump house and I wanted a water tower I figured why not use it to pump water from a man made canal to the water tank. With those three elements figured out I set out to build the scene.

The completed pump house

     The foreground scenery was roughed in and as can be seen from the photo, I built the stone lined canal that the pump house would draw water from.  I built up the background hills out of cardboard webbing and plaster cloth then painted some distant hills on the backdrop to give a sense of distance.  I used the same stone material to that lined the canal to build retaining walls behind the pump house and tower.  Once the background scenery was done I started playing around with the structures to figure out their final location.

Here we see the structures in place along with the signals and water stand pipe

 

Here is a shot showing the canal and pump house.

   I wanted the tower right at the two turnouts with power switches and since the water tank had to sit against the backdrop I decided to remove the water spout and install a standpipe between the main lines so engines could take water from either track. I added block signals that were made from Oregon Rail Supply parts to each end of the junction.  These simply show the turnout position rather than indicate the actual routing.  It is a simple set up and not really that prototypical but does give the impression of a signaled interlocking.
     While I was at it I decided to add lights to the tower and a couple of lights on poles to help crews see when taking water at night or looking for track materials by the tower.  The pole lights were scratchbuilt using dowels, brass tube, Tichy light shades and LED lights. They really look quite good when lit up.

The interior of the tower is detailed and lighted.  The towerman must have a lull in traffic and is taking in the scenery.

Here are a few shots showing the placement of the lights. The light pole is scratchbuilt.

The section gang seems to have a lot of supplies on hand at the junction.

A view from the cab of the Wells River wayfreight. By the looks of the red signal they might be here a while waiting for a mainline train to clear. The building at the junction can be seen behind the old wooden bridge.

   At this point the structure and background scenery are pretty much complete and in the next installment we will take a look at the finished scene and maybe catch a few trains passing the junction.

       

 

CN Wyoming, Ontario

Mile 45.3 Strathroy Sub. May 8, 1985 photo by Norm Davis

Two photos taken by CN trainmaster Norm Davis of London, Ontario. Today the CN station at Wyoming is gone...George Dutka

The back side of the station. I think at the time of this photo the track gangs are using this structure as a tool house.

New England Steam Videos

I saw a post somewhere viewing the lower photo of the shop area at White River Jct. I think this is were the photo came from...an ad for Sunday River Productions video from decades ago.

Busy Day at WRJ

It looks like White River Junction is a busy place today.

Throwback Thursday - Huron Central Road Power

Huron Central Railway locomotives 3010 and 3013 have just put their train together in CP's Sudbury yard on September 09, 2002.  Soon they will be making their way west towards Sault Ste Marie.

By Peter Mumby.

Back on February 28, 2019 we posted an item entitled "Big Power on the Huron Central Railway" which described how mainline freights were operated with a small group of SD45 locomotives.  The accompanying photo dated to June of 1998.  By mid-2000 all of these large units had left the property, leaving the Sudbury/Sault Ste Marie trains in the hands of a number of ex-CN GP40-2 diesels.  Both the locomotives in today's photo had been built by GMD in 1976 and had arrived on HCRY by way of Helm Leasing.  3010 was the former HCLX 4290, but had spent most of its life as CN 9640.  HCRY 3013 had been built as CN 9646.

Wordless Wednesday No. 386

Sept 7, 2012 WRJ

Palmerston Platform

The old station platform extension looking north from the overhead walkway. It has been a long time since passengers stood there.

While in Palmerston looking down at the station platform looking north I envisioned views I had seen in publication from the 1950's. I realized how long ago that was when I looked closely at the station platform. This view could make a neat looking feature to an abandoned platform on a layout...George Dutka

A view of the same platform location back in the 1950's.

An up close view...kind of a neat feature to model.

Westboro Shop Track

Looks like the shop track at Westboro is full. Once these two engines are fueled and sanded the layover power in the yard can arrive. In the background one can see the main line near Bellows Crossing.

Central Vermont - Waterbury, Vermont

I recently scanned a few CV prints that I purchased from George Melvin at the 2019 NERPM. These two are of CV 221 in different years at Waterbury, Vermont. This photo is 1923 with no other data on the photo. The scene is at the north end of the CV freight house.

CV 221 at Waterbury, Vt. in 1936, note the CV freight house in the background. It is now gone.

Bike Shop - Back Alley

The back alley.

Before my operation I was working on my back alley scene...the bike shop is now in place...George Dutka