Winter In Strong, Maine

This is a photo I purchased a few years back...looks like a really cold day on the SR&RL with a good dose of snow...think those days are ahead of us this winter...I have a model of this station to build this winter...think I will leave the snow off...have a Happy New Year...George Dutka

Wordless Wednesday No. 32

Merry Christmas

Along the WW&F during the NNGC 2016.

Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Years...Peter Mumby and George Dutka

Wordless Wednesday No. 31

Railway Memorabilia Collection - Boothbay

Don and I did not have enough time to check out the sites of the old B&H Ry. during our visit to Maine and the NNGC this fall.

At Boothbay there is a nice collection of papers and memorabilia inside the narrow gauge display building...here are a few of what I saw...the lighting is not that great for photographing but still worth a look...George Dutka

B&SR Ry

W&Q Ry. 1896

New Module for W&Q

 My Hunterline 50' Queen Post truss bridge module is well underway last month. The modules got a coat of a tan base. Mine got some river rock and beach sand from up at the lake.The creek has a light green colouring which will be repainted shortly into a more dark green-brown look.

Peter Mumby, Don Janes and I attended a WOD (NMRA divisional) meet back in Dec 2015. We each built a Huntlerline Queen post bridge. Peter and I went for a S scale model which would work well for our On30 modeling. I covered this WOD event on my WRD blog during Dec 2015 if you wish to take a look. Peter and I decided to build a small one foot wide add-on module to incorporate our bridges. Here is how they looked last month...more information to follow....George Dutka

I assembled two frames that would work for both of our W&Q On30" modules from scraps. This was about a year ago. Last month we finally got back at this project and they are now finished...just need to get some photos of Peter's modules on his layouts for part 2...a sneak peek of mine was last weeks Wordless Wednesday.

This was our first work day last month. Cardboard bases and webbing was applied.

By the end of our afternoon work session over at Peter's we had got both modules looking a lot better than they looked for the last year.

Wordless Wednesday No. 30

WW&F

Wordless Wednesday No. 29

Changing the Roof Colour

A Bar Mills kit assembled and ready for use on my W&Q layout. I decided to re-colour the roofing. I originally coloured this roof using Floquil rust, tuscan red and signal red.

I just finished assembling a FOS Scale Model the other day. I really liked how the corrugated roofing turned out so I though I would try it on my Bar Mills model that has been in use for a couple of years on the W&Q. The roofing is a rusty red that really stands out. I think I like it better to blend in to the surroundings...George Dutka

The corrugated roofing first gets a coat of Floquil concrete followed by dabs of rust then dabs of grime. When it was almost dry I gave the whole roof a wash of India ink. The ink really gave it a nice flat and even finish. I really liked how it turned out so I decided to try it once again.

I placed some tape around the edges to keep the sides clean.

The roof is almost done. Some powders will be applied after a wash of India ink.

SR&RL Caboose at Boothbay

A good looking caboose, Sept 2016. This caboose is on loan from the MNG in Portland, Maine and was restored around 2007.

Near Boothbay, Maine there is a good selection of interesting Maine two foot equipment at Boothbay Railway Village. One of the better looking pieces is a SR&RL caboose.
At Boothbay Railway Village a restoration project was SR&RL Caboose No 551 which is on loan from MNG in Portland. No. 551 got all new siding and several structural wall members repaired, it also got a new rubber roof. The interior was refinished and painted based upon research and analysis of the existing layers of paint...George Dutka

Wordless Wednesday No. 28

Wordless Wednesday No. 27

WW&F Boxcar Stencil

At the Boothbay Railway Village one of the structures is kind of a museum of Maine two foot memorabilia. One interesting artifacts I viewed was an original WW&F boxcar stencil...neat to see...George Dutka

Wordless Wednesday No. 26

3D Printing - Figures

A set of O scale station figures are 3D printed offerings.

Portland Locomotive Works had some neat looking 3D printed figures at this years NNGC. I picked up one of the moose's for my new A-frame bridge scene...stay tuned it is almost finished...George Dutka

I picked up one of these O scale moose's. They are fragile so PLW had them packed well.

Around in a circle

An interesting concept for running a rail line.

Found this module neat in the display room at this years National Narrow Gauge Convention....seen photos of this display before...I think it made it to the Schaumburg meet before...George Dutka

Maine Two Foot Railcars - Boothbay Railway Village

A short string of rail cars are under cover at Boothbay Railway Village, Sept. 2016.

On my visit to Boothbay this Sept. I photographed a string of railcars that are in the need of restoration although they are under cover. I am thinking this will help them out to some degree. Three boxcars and one combine are what one will find there...George Dutka

This W&Q car is the best looking car of the string.  It appears to have some newer sheathing with a recent paint job. This car was built in Portland, ME. in 1894 for the W&Q Ry. It's original number is #312.

This car was built in Portland, Maine in 1916.

The opposite side shows the rough condition of this car.

SR&RL #133 was built by the MEC in 1912.

This combine was built for the Franklin & Megantic Ry. in 1885. Still looks pretty good for her age.

Boxcar Construction

Looks like this car is a five man job. Boy that is a lot of sawdust under the car.

While visiting Lex Parker's great On3 DRG&W layout one of the mini scenes got me thinking of maybe I can do this also for my Maine two footer module. A partly constructed boxcar with a few workers and a load of lumber is all one needs...one might want to give this a try...George Dutka

An overview of the car under construction located right on the layout's edge.

A load of lumber is set in place to finish the project.

I really love this scene and one does not need a kit...just a good set of plans and some scale lumber. One can actually start with just the frame and as time goes by, just take it back to the workbench for a bit more construction.Visitors could follow the progress as the floors, walls and roofing are added.

Wordless Wednesday No. 25

The Two Foot at Randolph, Maine

An overall view of Randolph, Maine. The coal unloading facility is seen in the foreground. The prototype railroad was only 5 miles long running from Randolph to Togus. The trains normally operated 4 times a day between the two locations.

 The Sn2 Crew has included on their modular layout a model of Randolph, Maine which is still under construction. These photos gives one an idea what the Kennebec Central Ry. looked like in town. Don and I stopped by Randolph on our way to the WW&F Ry but could not find any evidence of the railway were the yard once stood, but I did locate the stairway that lead from the roadway up above down to the station...George Dutka

Operations were suspended abruptly on 29 June 1929 after the federal government awarded the coal-haul contract to a trucking firm. The locomotives were closed up in the 2-stall Randolph enginehouse and the cars waited on sidings for 3 years. Then a December 1931 an enginehouse fire in Wiscasset damaged the locomotives of the nearby WW&F Ry. The owner of the Wiscasset railroad bought the whole Kennebec Central Railroad for less than it would have cost to repair a burned locomotives. Kennebec Central engines #3 and #4 were trucked to Wiscasset, repainted, and renumbered 8 and 9. Some of the box car and passenger car bodies were sold as sheds, and the remainder floated down the Kennebec River during the 1936 flood.

The Queen Ann style station was down along the river with a long staircase up to the roadway above which was near the covered bridge that passenger would use to cross the river to Gardner, Maine's MEC station.

Another view of the yard layout.

Wordless Wednesday No. 24

Wordless Wednesday No. 23

New Truck for the W&Q

I have done a bit of work to my Winn-Dixi bread truck that I posted about back in on January 5th of this year. I used a billboard advertisment that I colour copied to a size that would fit on the side of my truck. I then added the smaller logo to the doors. I think it looks a lot better now....George Dutka

The Details

The milk cans are from Berkshire Valley as are many of the other details used in this scene.

I was going through my photos the other day and came across these two detailed photos of my W&Q freight house. Don't think I have shown you these before...just getting back into modeling mode following the summer and fall at the lake...still lots of photos from the NNGC to post...George Dutka

The screen door is a plastic offering, I believe from Grandt Line. I like modeling my doors as part way open as it seems to add more interest to the structure.

Wordless Wednesday No. 22

Maine S Scale Structures for sale at NNGC

Here are some of the great Maine two footer structures for sale at this years NNGC....George Dutka