Monday 18 March 2024

CV 8081

 

CV 8081 is throwing up a bit of smoke. Photo by Theodore W. Bossert.

Here we have a view of CV 8081 working the yard in St Albans during 1973. It appears the paint job is well worn by this time...George Dutka    

Sunday 17 March 2024

London - Top End

March 16 2024 at CN East London yard. 
Yesterday I was in East London at the Saturday market which is near CN London East. Once done shopping the sun was out a short bit...I had brought my camera along. No power at the yard office so a quick trip to the top end of the yard (east end) I found three sets of power. Local yard 582 was switching while it appears one of the BN units is now being used here in town. Of course it is not working and a larger than normal shop staff...probably all from Sarnia are working hard to get it running. Way back in the distance one sees the power for train 434 which is the London to Toronto (Mac Yard) train...not a bad find for a gloomy day that I did not plan on...George Dutka 

Looks like a lot of head scratching happening here. Note the number board...you don't have to be good at decaling to follow the prototype.



Saturday 16 March 2024

C&O Caboose in Canada

Bob Bowes copy, Patterson-George Collection.
This view of C&O caboose A-306 in London, Philips St. 1957-4-27 was to be London and Port Stanley C-3...George Dutka      

Friday 15 March 2024

CP 4200

One of Peter Mumby's models is posed approaching the crossing at Northfield Falls. This engine is straight DC, so as long as we kept the track dead we could get a few nice views of the engine on the layout. 

I caught Peter getting ready to photograph a CN freight just coming off the causeway which is a duck under and drop-in module. Peter had brought along these models also.



Thursday 14 March 2024

Throwback Thursday - In Search of a Home

 

GTW 77137 was on display at the museum in Smiths Falls, Ontario on August 18, 1993.
By Peter Mumby.  

GTW 77137 has spent a lot of time kicking around various museums in Southern Ontario.  I first photographed it in the mid-1970s at Harbourfront in Toronto. We next met up in the early 1990s at the railway museum in Smiths Falls, the location of today's photo.  Subsequently it moved to the Elgin County Railway Museum in St. Thomas, where it seems to have finally found its permanent home.

Tuesday 12 March 2024

WRD 2004

The track is all down and working. I actually ran trains for a year before beginning on any scenery. I wanted to make sure it all ran well. The short CV train has my Atlas Alco 8081 with my early version of a CV caboose using a Walthers model. I later put a proper cupola on the model. Some plaster scenery is done but there was a lot still to be done. 

A view of my layout in the early stages of construction back in 2004. In the foreground is the drop in causeway. I took this as a slide which I edited the colors a bit as it was really yellow originally...George Dutka

Monday 11 March 2024

Hindsight 20/20 Flyer

 

Time once again for a day of detailed modeling presentations...are you going to be there...George Dutka  

Sunday 10 March 2024

Another CN Clothes Dry Boxcar

This car which is used to dry workman's clothing is seen with an end door and windows. Some of the equipment found inside are seen through the open door. Peter Mumby photo.
Peter Mumby prepared a Throwback Thursday awhile back of a CN clothing dryer car. Well he has another view in his collection with the door open...George Dutka  

Saturday 9 March 2024

March 2024 - Update

NH Providence yard May 1970 Ken Patton Photo.
A bit of this and that. I have not been doing any modeling in the past 6 months. Between my wife's health and my hip replacement time and motivation has slipped by. I actually could not get down the stairs to the basement for 6 weeks. I hope to visit a couple of train shows and layout tours during the next two months that might get me motivated and take my mind off other things.

I wanted to mention that if you find some of the photos on this blog not as clear as expected the reason is the last few years I have had to reduce the Pixels size drastically to stay within the boundary of the blog provider. One get so much space and I have used that up years ago. I have found that if my photo sizes are below 600 (I am using 590 as my size) it works. The issue is the quality suffers. If I want to post larger photos I would have to pay a monthly fee. As I am only doing this as a hobby, passing along to you what models I have completed, places I have railfanned and things learned through the hobby I don't feel I want to incur any expenses. If you see something on the blog you would like to see larger, e-mail me and I can send you a copy.  

CVRHS Editor of the Ambassador Steve Horsley has quit. So till they find another editor CVRHS president Laz and I are working on issues. So for the next little while I might find myself back downstairs running my photo scanner. It has been actually fun as I am looking at slides I have not seen in 25-30 years. I will share a few with you along the way. 

I got out on March 5th for the first time since the beginning of January railfanning...although it was only taking photos in CN yard London, it was nice to be out and about. Last month my friend Andy took me to the O gauge club in town for our local modeling group get together. I have some photos included here. Well I guess I may have taken in some activities over the winter...George Dutka

I took this photo of my group of Rapido hoppers which shows difference in coloring. The one on the left is CN with light weathering and the two on the right are CV just out of the box. All three are colored the same with a brown-red tone more to the orange side. The darker LV hopper is more a dark brown-maroon tone. Rapido has tried to follow what was applied to a specific car.
At the London O Gauge Club one of the scenes being modeled is St. Mary's Ontario on the CN. This station has been 3-D printed. A wonderful looking model.


The St. Mary's town stone water tank has also be modeled in O scale. Once again another 3-D printed model.

O scale road power at the London O Scale Club. 

The London yard job #582 is being worked by an engine which looks like it is ready for a face lift. March 5, 2024

I am standing next to the main line in WRJ at mile marker 14 which is about the middle of the B&M yard. Some of the abandoned B&M structures are seen in the background. May 4, 2000

Friday 8 March 2024

MEC Boxcar - Repaints

Peter Mumby's model collection has a boxcar someone repainted following the practice seen in yesterdays post. He just did not take it as far. Was this were the paint went that would have finished the other car?
After Peter Mumby's post yesterday, MEC repaint, I had to dig through my photo files back to a time Peter and I held a contemporary photo shoot on the WRD. I remember Peter bringing over a MEC boxcar that he had purchased that someone had repainted probably following a photo he had of such a car. Although not exactly the same as yesterdays post it shows one that there must have been more boxcars painted at the same time. 

Oh by the way checking my files I thought it was only a few years back that we took those photos, but it was 2013 when we spent the afternoon moving the layout forward in time...George Dutka 

Thursday 7 March 2024

Throwback Thursday - A Quart Short?

MEC 31856 was on an eastbound CP freight train at Quebec St yard in London, Ontario on September 11, 1993.
By Peter Mumby.

Maine Central 31856 was a 5272 cubic foot box car belonging to series 31750-31899 which had been built by FMC in 1978.  It had left the factory handsomely decorated in MEC Harvest Yellow paint with Pine Green herald and lettering.  After 15 years of service its appearance had been altered to that shown in today's photo.  The non-repainted panels on the right side of the car beg a few questions.  Was this omission intentional, perhaps to avoid redoing the consolidated data stencil?  Or, had the shop staff simply run out of paint?  What did the other side look like?  Is this a car you would like to model for your layout?  For years I have enjoyed models of cars with paint that is faded, peeling, or patched, but I personally find this one a little too atypical.  What is your opinion?  


Monday 4 March 2024

North Conway NH Night Photo Session

 

I was in North Conway NH for railfan days almost 30 years ago now. This was the Saturday night setup for the night photo secession which was fun to participate in We had a few chances to shoot the scene as they walked us through what was going to happen...George Dutka    

Sunday 3 March 2024

Brian Smith's Mill

The roadside of the mill has a bit of a sandy looking roadway with grass growing up between the tire tracks. The roofing was done using construction paper which was spray bombed gray with light sanding to wear it down a little. A weight scale is included in the scene. 

Yesterday you saw the abandoned trackage today some overall views of the mill scene which is a drop-in style diorama...George Dutka

 What was once the rail side view of the mill. Products still can move from the mill through the open end doors by truck or if your era is older by buggy.

Another look at the abandoned trackage from higher up. One does not always have to model trackage. It is nice to have a few spots on a layout which have a bit of history.


Saturday 2 March 2024

Weathering Tracks and Ties

I hand laid the ties on this abandoned bit of trackage for the mill. The ties are scored with a hobby knife then stained with Hunterline weathering mix. I added some rust were the tie plates once were in place and a few spike holes. The tie plates seen scattered around are from Monster Model Works. Static grass, a bit of dirt and Highball cinders are used as ballast and scenery.
I built this small diorama for Brian Smith using his mill building. I completed it for him a number of years ago. I was going through my photos the other day and found some close up views of the trackage...George Dutka 

A second look at the abandoned trackage at the base of the mill. A neat little scene to be added to Brian's layout at some point.


Friday 1 March 2024

CV Caboose in Vermont

I think this caboose was used as a food shack at one time. 
I came across this ex-CV caboose I think in Chester, Vermont but am not sure back in 2011. It still looked in good shape. I have not been back there since then so not sure if it still survives...George Dutka  

Thursday 29 February 2024

Throwback Thursday - Idler Car

 

CN 1371 and its associated idler car are working the Sarnia boat yard on April 23, 1994.
By Peter Mumby.

The St Clair River separates Port Huron, Michigan from Sarnia, Ontario.  The original Grand Trunk Railway tunnel under the river was opened in 1891, and was able to accommodate most existing rolling stock for the next seventy years or so.  In the last several decades of the twentieth century cars such as autoracks and high cube boxcars were introduced which exceeded the clearances of the tunnel.  Car ferries had to be used to transfer these cars across the river, adding a lot of extra effort and expense to the movement of this type of freight.  In 1993 construction started on a new tunnel which would handle these types of high cars.  The new tunnel was opened in late 1994 and the use of the car ferries was terminated.  

CN 665361 was an idler car which allowed locomotives such as the 1371 to reach the traffic on a car ferry without placing its weight on the apron which spanned the space between the deck and the ground.  The park bench and the extra hand holds are thoughtful additions for the comfort and safety of the crew members working in the Sarnia boat yard.

Tuesday 27 February 2024

BAR Reefers

This car looks very new in this photo. Note the black ends. New 3- 52

A couple of steel BAR reefers...George Dutka  

BAR 8000 was new 4-55.