Ex-CV - Amherst, Mass. Station

Looking south towards the station from the parking lot. I noted that Railroad Street is now dead end at the station.

Last fall I stopped by the Amherst, Mass. Amtrak station at 13 Railroad Street. As it turns out I missed the Vermonter by a few minutes. I did have my wife in tow and the reason for being in town was a stop at Trader Joes and Target a short distance away. I had not been by this old Central Vermont Ry. station since the CVRHS convention back in Oct. 1999. A few years ago I acquired a laser wooden kit for this station and I wanted to have a few detailed photos to work from...such as the correct brick colouring...now that I have what I need the station might move up the list of to-do kits even though I don't actually have a location in mind on my layout. I always liked the look of this station and it might be nice to have it as a diorama...George Dutka

Looking north.

Window, door and brick details are clearly seen in this view.

The station as it looked on my visit last fall. Oct. 14, 2014

The colouring of the bricks is seen well here. It appears some work has been done to the brickwork over the years.

Wordless Wednesday No. 137

Central Vermont Caboose No 4017 - For Sale

This is one of the photos posted on Craigslist which I believe might have been from days in use by the CV. It currently need a good amount of effort. It was last used by the CV in 1976.

On some of the Yahoo groups I follow I see a Central Vermont caboose is up for sale. Asking price is $7,500 and can be found on Craigslist in the Burlington, Vt. area. The caboose is actually in a barn in Williston, Vt. It was moved from Newport, Vt. and stored for the last 20 years. Some work has been done but a lot is still required as seen in the photos...thought I would share this with you...George Dutka

It appears a lot of work is required to this side of the caboose.

The interior still has all the original details from when in use.

This appears to be the better side of the caboose. It still is resting on its trucks.

What's in the Box No. 18

There are a lot to build up in this N scale kit. Each window is a three part assembly and the loading platforms have numerous pieces to be added.

N Scale Creamery

Branchline laser kit of an N scale creamery is a neat looking model. One can also purchase an ice house which was normally found nearby. The prototype of this kit is along the NYO&W at Clarks near Campbell Hall, NY. The instruction sheet is very good. The windows and wall trim has a sticky backing speeding up the process. One thing that I would have liked to have seen included in the kit was wall bracing. This will have to come from my parts box...George Dutka

The window and door sheet is seen here up close. They make up some really fine looking windows. The wall trim is also seen on this sheet.

The only detail parts included are two chimneys. I actually used one cut in half for my model as they are too tall. The spare will come in handy later on...I do have a frt. house still to build. The platform sheet is seen also in this photo. There are a good number of bracing and footings to assemble. The wooden platforms need some reinforcements which are not included.

N Scale - Coal Tower

N scale coal tower as it looks after the weathering is done. I am not sure the heritage of the tower or the company who made it as I have not been following N scale product lines at all.

One Hour Weathering Project

Don sent me some photos of what he has been up to recently in his basement...and it was a lot. I had not been down in the basement since I got back from Collinsville a month ago. A few days ago I had about a hour or two to kill before my wife and I headed out. So with Don's inspiration of all he got done I went down stairs to see what I could do in about an hour. On the corner of my workbench I have a coal tower that I added one leg brace and coal chute. I had primed it gray a couple of months ago and just need to colour and weather it...something that could be done in an hour. I had picked up this N scale coal tower this spring at the Woodstock train show for a couple of bucks. As mentioned it was missing a platform and coal chute. As it turned out I got my airbrush out to add some more colour to the tower and finished another project to boot...my Rapido NH smoker/coach needed some black applied to the roof, underbody and trucks. They have been sitting in the garage in the to-do paint area since Collinsville...George Dutka
 

The finished coal tower has an emulated metal roofing which I gave a rusty look. I plan on using this structure on a N scale module Peter and I plan on building this fall. I picked up a CNR Mikado at the same train show for a ridiculous price that I plan to pose under this...will fill you in later on the engine.

The N scale coal tower is ready for priming. A new stripwood base and coal chute is added.

I just used a can of auto primer to give the model something for the Bragdon powder to grab on to.

I began by adding various Bragdon powders to the primed model. It looked good but too light. I had planned to paint my Rapido NH coach underbody and roof black along with the trucks...so I got out my airbrush and hit the coal tower at the same time with a light coat of Floquil grimy black. I applied more black to the underside of the tower.

Once the paint was applied I went back over the roofing with more rust and the walls with some brown and black powders. I dabbed some green powders on the window trim so they stand out a bit better.

Wordless Wednesday No. 136

Gaysville Station - White River Ry.

Randy Laframboise had a nice looking station on display at the 2015 Collinsville RPM meet. Gaysville is located on the White River Ry. in Vermont. It lasted until it was swept away by the great flood of 1927. Randy did a wonderful job scratchbuilding this model...George Dutka

New Haven FL-9's

New Haven FL-9 2006 and a sister unit painted in the NYC passenger scheme at the Danbury, CT. museum

EMD's Dual Mode Passenger Locomotive

by Don Janes

        

    EMD originally built the FL-9 model locomotive for long haul passenger service.  The idea was to lengthen the unit and add a six wheel rear truck carry the weight of a steam generator and extra water capacity.  The Santa Fe tested these units on their passenger trains but they ended up going with the more conventional F7A paired with B units with two steam generators.  The New Haven, under Patrick McGinnis  was determined to rid itself of electric train operation and ended up buying 60 FL-9's between 1956 and 1960.  These units ran on conventional diesel power and also third rail electric power.  The first order also had small pantographs on the roof for operation in Grand Central Terminal.  This was not repeated on the second order. These units were no match for the much more powerful and already established electric locomotives already on the NH roster but poor judgement dictated the decision to go with the FL9's.  They were less than successful and really should never have been ordered in the first place.
     When George and I were at the Collinsville RPM meet this spring we attended an excellent clinic on the history of the FL9's given by Rick Abramson.  We also visited a couple of museums that have FL9's in their collection, even one that is used in regular tourist train service at the Railroad Museum of New England in Thomaston, Ct.  There are two others at the Danbury Railroad Museum in Danbury, Ct.

The link to the history of these interesting locomotives is found below.
  EMD FL9 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is another view of NH 2006 along side a Hew Haven RDC at Danbury. The RDC looks a little worse for wear.

    I must admit I am quite surprised at the number of ex-New Haven FL-9's that still survive today in one state of repair or another.  The first one I ever saw was unit 2007 in Utica,NY which ended her days pulling commuter trains for MTA. It was in pretty rough shape but it has had some work done on her lower side panel this year and hopefully will be restored to completely. The Adirondack RR yard in Utica, NY. is located just north of the CSX mainline/Amtrak station in what was once part of the New York Central's passenger station tracks.

Two views of 2007 in Utica, NY showing the state of dis-repair the engine is in. Photos taken Nov.5, 2013.

As can be seen from these two photos taken a little over a year apart, some work has been done on the 2007.  Hopefully they will at least close in the windows to keep the rain and snow out and help prevent further rust and corrosion damage. May 2015 photo.

This photo shows some of the end details and the three axle rear Flexi-coil truck added to carry the extra weight of electrical equipment for third rail operation.  This was originally designed to support boiler water and a steam generator.

It looks like the 2007 will eventually be painted in the same scheme as this Adirondack F7 which received this new paint scheme since I was last in Utica. May 2015 photo.

         The Railroad Museum of New England in Thomaston, Ct. has three FL9's in their collection.  Number 2002 and 2033 are stored outside. 2002 is still in her original NH paint while the 2033 sports Metro North colours.  Number 2019 has been beautifully restored to her original NH paint scheme and is used on occasion for their weekend tourist train runs.  The day we were there she was inside and not really in a great spot for photos but we manged a few shots anyway.  

Metro North 2033 is starting to show signs of being exposed to the elements for many years.  You can see the body rusting away just above the front truck and around the class lights.  Notice also the hulk of an old Alco FA-1 behind the 2033. The sides are mostly just sheets of plywood where metal used to be.

FL9 2019 has been beautifully restored both cosmetically and mechanically.  Here it is stored inside the shop to protect it from the elements.  It is used on a regular basis for the tourist train at Thomaston.

The 2002 looks to be in pretty good shape overall.  Here it is seen along side NH RS-3 529.  Many pieces of equipment were tucked away on very closely spaced tracks so getting  good photos was difficult.  I felt I was stepping back in time seeing these two locomotives beside each other.

This is the view an engineer would have had from the cab of an RS-3 when meeting an FL9 powered train out on the road.  Oh, how the imagination can run wild!

     The Hew Haven FL9's are really unique locomotives and have an interesting history.  Only 60 were built, all for the Hew Haven and many still survive.  I know there are more out there including two on the Maine Eastern RR and some stored at New Haven, Ct. so hopefully on our travels we will find more to photograph.

Caboose Ice Cream

Located in Cambridge, Ont. on the route to Paris.

While on this years Doubleheaders layout tour I came across this ice cream shop on the outskirts of Cambridge...thought I would share my views with you...George Dutka

If one does not want ice cream there is a Tim Horton's also in the parking lot. On my visit it was March and not ice cream season yet.

2015 Collinsville RPM Boxcar Fleet - by Craig Zeni

I really liked Craig Zeni`s display of rolling stock kits at this years RPM meet in Collinsville. I just had to show you the rest of the photos I took. I only got photos of the first and part of the second row...enjoy...George Dutka

Wordless Wednesday No. 135

Weathered CNR Boxcar - Hedley-Junction Blog

This is a heavy weathered CNR boxcar done by Matthieu Lachance. Check out his link below for how he did it. Photo by Matthieu Lachance.

 Here is a nice project for someone who wishes to add a CNR boxcar to their fleet from the 1980-90`s. The car is painted and lettered with CDS dry transfer. Matthieu then taped up some of the numbering and highlighted the green leaf with additional paint after some weathering is done. Check out the link below for the whole story and also take a peek at his ex-Rock Island Roundhouse boxcar upgrade...George Dutka

hedley-junction.blogspot.ca

Some weathering is done and the leaf has some paint added. Photo by Matthieu Lachance.