Unloading Boats at Lake George

A boxcar is in the water, note the operator working the hand brake as the car rolls in to the proper depth. A boat is approaching that will enter the end doors or has been unloaded. If you look close you can see the cable that will pull the boxcar out of the water once work is completed.

There was an era when boats were loaded and stored in rail cars on Lake George. The NEB&W mentioned this operation on the D&H which I thought was neat since I was a boater...George Dutka     

Although the siding is gone the trackage underwater still remains to this day.

CV Athearn Geep - Update

Don Janes CV geep in action on his layout. Don Janes photo

In the current issue of the CVRHS Ambassador Don Janes describes how he changed a few items that makes the CV model look more like the prototype. Don had done a post a few months back which was the basis of the article, but his article expanded on this with some of the additional details he added following the original post. Here are a few additions that where added.

Don's model also graced the Ambassador's cover. It was hard to tell it was a model on the cover and not the prototype as mentioned by Don McQueen when he saw it. Great work Don...George Dutka

Don cut down the side of the fuel tank for his model. He thought the capacity was 1200 gal. According to Don McQueen who checked the CN equipment records indicated that the total fuel capacity for the CV geeps was 1080 Imperial gallons. Don Janes photo.

The smaller size fuel tank is added to the model. Note the fuel gauge is added to the engineman's side of the tank. This is a Details Associates part no. 3101. Don Janes photo.

Don Janes photo

Three manufacturers of rerailers. Don Janes photo.

Don Janes applied the rerailers on two of his geeps. Green on his freight engine and yellow on the passenger engine. He used the Rapido version on this enigne. They are held in place by adding a wire bracket. Don Janes photo

Rerailers are seen on both engines. Don Janes photo.

It appeared that on CV engines designated yellow and green depending on service for a period. Don Janes photo

 

GMD Recollections - Something Borrowed, Something Blue

EMD 117 was waiting at CN London East to be transferred to the GMD plant on March 11, 1994.

 

By Peter Mumby.

EMD 117, an SW1001 switcher, arrived in London early in 1994.  Initially it appeared as if its stay would be short in duration, since these two views at CN London East were taken merely 3 weeks apart.  However, the addition of some type of spark arrestor during this interval probably was a hint that a longer stay was in the offing.  Later in the year the unit had its number changed to GM 1,  and a maple leaf flag showed up on the black band at the bottom of the cab side.  Shortly thereafter, a full Diesel Division paint job was applied. 

Number 117 was back at London East again on April 04, 1994.  In the interim it has gained a spark arrestor, and has had at least one trip around the GMD wye.

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 428

 

 

The Spray Booth 1949

 

One last view of the assembly line in 1949. Back in that era not much protection was required to paint. I wonder what year masks where required.  

 

St Mary's Jct. Station

Last week I made a return visit to St. Mary's Jct. after hearing from my friend Andy that the brewery was now open in the station. The area around the station is cleaned up and the windows and doors refurbished or replaced. As the brewery is curb side pickup as we are still in lock-down I could not take a look inside...George Dutka 

Ex - CN station, built for the Grand Trunk Railway in 1858 at St. Marys Jct. is now a brewery. It had been sealed up and fenced off for decades. The Jct. is were the Forest sub and Thorndale Subs once met. Today only one line remains and is called the Guelph Sub. This station has a bit of a claim to fame as being a location that Thomas Edison worked as the night telegraph operator when he was 16 years old, 1863-64. Broken Rail Brewery opened in February 2021 after restoration work was completed to the stone structure.

 

One can purchase jugs of beer or tall cans as seen below.

Looking East at the Jct. station.

White River Jct Station - Model

My rendition of the WRJ station. Modeling the station in a 2' by 6' area requires resizing the plans.

I took a few photos to go along with an article I just completed for the next CVRHS Ambassador. It is regarding how I modeled my WRJ station. I won't get into details here as to what I did but here are a few photos that view the station...George Dutka 

The station was built in three parts. The center section is close to the prototype size. If more room becomes available I can build the other portions larger. Also the middle section can be reversed to view the B&M side without changing the freight doors on the larger portion of the platform.

The B&M side of White River Jct. station.

A view taken with my phone set on the layout the other day.

Snapshot - June 2021

CN 397 westbound from Toronto to Sarnia included military commemorative unit 3233 in the  three unit consist on Memorial Day, May 31, 2021. CN 397 had just completed a re-crew at Watford West on the Strathroy Sub. A slow pull by at First School Road gave me an up close photo option.

On Memorial Day (last Monday) it was a ho-hum day trackside with nothing actually passing by me. It was more cloud than sun while hanging around the Komoka detector. VIA 72 did pass but no CP WB that morning. I heard dispatcher call CN 397 telling the crew they would be re-crewed at Watford West. The train appeared a few minutes later at a good speed. To my surprise the middle unit was a CN military tribute unit as seen in my photos. I decided to head to Watford West for a better shot and a good look as the train would stop and pull slowly at the crossing. On to the freeway 402 then back on Kerwood Rd. I could see it had not gone across the crossing here yet so a quick trip into Kerwood for a shot. The gates just started as I crossed the crossing. A couple of shots there and once the train cleared off to Watford West. I got my best look and views at Watford West as the train pulled slowly over the crossing. 

It was nice for my first encounter with a military tribute unit  to be on Memorial Day. CN 397 later in the day arrived in Pt. Huron Michigan for a run west on the GT...George Dutka

CN 397 at the Komoka hot box detector just west of London on May 31 2021.

At the Komoka hot box detector.

A crew change took place at Watford West with a puller crew arriving from Sarnia.

 

White River Junction - Coal Tower Scene

A pair of Geep's are ready to roll. The GT unit is a blue box Athearn dummy that has a good amount of details added back in the 1980's or early 1990's. The CV engine is a detailed Front Range model. Note the string of CNR 40' boxcars that will be lifted shortly. The coal tower remains but unused.

It is well beyond the steam era in this view on the WRD. A pair of geep's are ready to go on another run over the layout. This is from a group of photos that were staged for a MR article sent in 3 years ago. This view was not included with the article...waiting patiently for what becomes of the feature...George Dutka   

GMD Recollections - Switching at the North Side.

 

CP SD40-2F number 9015 is being shoved back through the main gates to the GMD plant on February 19, 1989.  This rear view makes it quite apparent how the "red barn" nickname came to be applied to these units.

By Peter Mumby.

Oxford Street East runs along the north side of the GMD plant.  Both of today's photos were taken looking north across the street.  The main gate to the plant is behind the camera.  If a locomotive was to be switched from one erecting bay to another, it had to be pulled out to the street before being shoved back into the building.  The track nearest to the camera continues across the road towards a connection with the CN (later, GEXR) Guelph Subdivision.  If you look carefully, you can see that the track the switcher is occupying features multiple gauges, allowing for the testing of the many narrow gauge export locomotives produced at the plant.

After the 9015 has been relocated, we get a chance to inspect the plant switcher in its Diesel Division paint scheme. 

Wordless Wednesday No. 427

 

    

Service Station - Bellows Falls

March 30, 2016 Bellows Falls, Vermont

Kevin Smith sent me some more information regarding the service station located behind Robertson Paper in Bellows Falls, Vermont that I thought you might be interested in. I posted about this location on May 8, 2016...George Dutka

The gas station was known as Ross's Garage. It was originally a Mobil station under the ownership of John & Patty Ross. Son Johnny & daughter Angie worked there pumping gas. John was a talented mechanic. In his spare time, he built (from scratch) a beautiful Super Modified race car. Despite the exterior appearance (it always looked that way), inside was immaculately clean & organized. The entire time I lived in Bellows Falls, I bought gas there & all my vehicles were serviced there, including tires. GMRC had a gas & service account with John as well. After moving to AZ, anytime I came back for visits, I'd gas up the rental car there & check up on the family. By then, Mobil had gone away, but the biz was going strong. Last visit, Fall of 2020, the building appeared vacant...Kevin Smith.

 

BarMills Cigar Corner - Building Flat

My newest building flat placed into the back alley scene I built last year. I used most of the signs included but did change out one to a wholesale grocers.

The first structure that I completed from BarMills Cigar Corner is the building flat. I have already posted the finished model photos and what is in the box. Here is some under construction views...George Dutka 

The basic construction is done. One sees the building flat is not a true flat...it has some depth to it.

The flat does not have any backing included. I used some available card stock on my kits back.

Brick mortar is applied to some areas of the wall. I used car primer brown for the basic wall color. The concrete is done with gray and white acrylic dollar store paints. 

The brick work is toned down with two tones of PanPastel's.

The wood structure is attached to the main and the signage is next to be applied.

Here is how the building flat when I thought I was finished. The brick mortar stood out a bit more than I wanted it to. I went over these areas with more PanPastel browns and all is well. The lead photo is the finished look. The power meter is from an ITLA kit.

CN 149 Komoka Detector

CN 149 westbound between the detector and Frank Lane "A" frame wooden bridge on May 25, 2021. I used a slate filter which takes most of the color out of the photo making it almost B&W.

Railfanning is getting more difficult with our grand-kids home schooling during lock-down and yes grandparents are the school teachers most days now.

As it turned out this day both express container trains CN 148 and 149 passed each other at Komoka which would not have made for a nice shot. I was stationed just east of Komoka on the Strathroy Sub. at the detector with the "A" frame Frank Lane bridge in the background. It was already humid out shortly after 9am making telephoto shooting a bit of a problem with haze not to mention the shadows from the overgrowth. I played around using the computer filters the other day to change the tone of the photo...enjoy...George

Weathering and Painting

I really like using these tones of Anita's acrylic paints on my structures. They are a great value which I purchased at Hobby Lobby in Pt. Huron, Michigan a few years ago. They are a great deal when on sale for way under a dollar a bottle. From left to right they are charcoal, woodsy smoke, bark brown, rusty red, earth brown and rainy day gray.

A few views of some of the paints and powders I use on my models. I am trying to stay away from the smelly stuff as much as possible...George Dutka  

If one is going to only purchase one weathering powder product this four pack of Bragdon powders is the one to consider. I think I have shown you this before but it is my go-to weathering. I can't remember a project that this plastic box has not been on the workbench for. Oh that is the front section of the BarMills building flat.

Dollarama located here in Ontario has a nice line of large bottles of Acylic paint for a dollar. These are my go-to bottles.

O.V.Hooker - Calling it Done

CV 4551 is just pulling down to the south end of Waterbury Yard to do some switching. The hopper will be spotted at the coal dealer in the background.

 A New Scene For Waterbury....by Don Janes

     A few weeks ago I shared some photos of the O.V. Hooker structure I built for my Waterbury, Vt. scene.  At that time I had just finished the structure and placed it in the layout.  Over the last  couple of weeks I worked on finishing the surrounding scenery and adding some more details.  I think I can just about call the scene finished.  You will note I said just about since we all know there are always a few more details that one can add to "finish" a scene.  

     This was a very challenging kit to build but I thoroughly enjoyed the build.  I have always loved building SRMW kits but unfortunately this is the last one I had to build and since Bob retired a few years ago there will be no more new ones so if I want to get another I will have to look around at sites such as eBay to see if I can find another one.  At this point I don't really have any more room for any more large structures unless I pull an existing building out and add a new one. I did add an old auto repair shop at the end of the road to add a little more interest.  I believe it is a modified Pikestuff kit i did years ago. 

     So, here are a few photos of the finished structure placed into the layout.   

I added a small drainage ditch between the road and the tracks.

A few shots of the structure. 

This small auto repair shop is where all the locals go to get their vehicles fixed

One final shot of 4551 working at Waterbury