A Plow Deadhead Movement

Not a clear photo but the back mentions this to be SR&RL 18 and 25 southbound with plow 513 between Philips and Strong during the summer of 1936. Peter Cornwall collection.

In this photo that I believe is from those I purchased in a collection from George Melvin is of two SR&RL engines handling a plow. On the CN we called that movement, deadhead equipment...George Dutka

On30" Tank Car

The tank car got some modifications following what Bob Hayden did to his car which was covered in the Narrow Gauge Gazette.

This Bachmann On30" tank car got some changes which gives it a more Maine two foot look...George Dutka

All around the tank a heavy wood beam was added with Grandt bolt castings. The under body was altered to lower the trucks down. Currently Bachmann offers proper trucks so changes do not have to be made to the car. The rolling stock looks great with the new trucks.

I later applied rust spots using acrylic paints.

The lettering is done with a Black Cat flat car decal set offered by Trevor Marshall a number of years ago for a B&SR flat car project.

 

Updating a Bachmann Flat Car Deck

The deck is now completed...a bit more ageing than in the last post.

When I completed this flat car chalk and dry brush painting was my main weathering options. I did at time over-spray colors as weathering. There are a lot more weathering options today. I decided to try a few of my current effects on this cars decking. Some worked great and others not so much. Here is what I found worked best...George Dutka 

Two shades of AK pencils are used to mark the deck along the grooves.

Close up of the deck once the AK pencils were used.

I applied some Bragdon powders rust tone on and around the stake pockets. I also dusted the deck with some PanPastel raw umber shade and white. Very little PanPastel was used. I was going to use some AK stain for wood but it did not seem to flow well on the other coatings.

Wordless Wednesday No. 148

 

   

Bachmann On30" Flat

I took this photo sometime ago of the finished flat. The stakes came with the car. The deck got a wash of Floquil grime followed by roof brown while the grime was wet. At that time I only was using chalks for weathering.

I did a couple of Bachmann flats up for my W&Q Ry back in 2010. Here are some photos of how it looks before I spent sometime today redoing the deck...will show you that in another post...George Dutka

The lettering is a mix of CDS dry transfers and others transfers that are applied to decals paper then added to the car. I was just using what I had on hand. This was a joint project with Peter Mumby on our workshop Mondays, so we scrounged through his vast collection of bits and pieces. The sides are painted Floquil boxcar red.

The car looks good as is but I wanted to make the decking look better as that is what one sees first when looking at the car. More on this shortly.

On30" Milk Car

Over the next couple of months I will show you my fleet of On30" rolling stock. Many of the cars have shown up in other photos but I will tell you about each. So lets begin with Rangeley Lakes Railroad milk car that was presented in the August 2011 issue of RMC.

I wanted to have a milk car for my mixed fleet of Maine rolling stock. I thought the Bachmann Models baggage car could work well as it is short in size. I modeled it with the doors open including an employee and a couple of milk cans. The milk cans are Berkshire Valley No. 524 and a Life-Like figure that had his hands altered to fit the milk can.

Pullman green from Floquil is the base coat. I also over-sprayed the car once again when finished with the green. Floquil grimy black is applied to the roof and under-body. Of course gloss coat was applied before decals and flat finish at the end.

To name the car I looked at a very old sheet of Robert Sloan decals. I just cut out the Rangeley Lake Railroad which had a nice ring to it. The milk is from a B&M  milk car set. The numbering is from a Black Cat set done for the B&SR.  The Hood's sign which one would have seen a lot in Maine is from a Hood's 140th year commemorative calendar. I just color copied the sign reducing it a bit. I wanted it to look like an attached metal placard.

Now its time to pickup all that Maine milk that is routed over the line...George Dutka 

The Bachmann car before starting the project.

Both doors are open with milk cans and train crew on board. The floor is painted Floquil grime with some weathering chalks applied while the paint is damp.

The train is operating on my HO White River Division layout which appears to look at home when no structures are found in the scene.

Railfanning the SR&RL in Philips, Maine

Photo run-by on Sept. 9, 2016. I found there was so many visitors that stood up close to the train that a good photo of the train was impossible to get. I wonder what sort of photo this group came away being so close to the tracks.

During the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Maine Don Janes and I took the bus trip up to Philips, Maine to visit the railway display and museum. One event planned for us was a run-by in an open field which was not really well planned. There was no photo line, everyone just picked a spot which included many people in the photos. The group here taking a photo in the shade was not bad but when the train was seen in the sunshine it was a different story. Funny many of those are just there to watch and not take photos seemed to be right up front. So I stood back and photographed the gang in front of the passing train documenting the days events...George Dutka