Jersey Barriers

Quite a while ago, I picked up a package of Walthers concrete barriers, also often called Jersey barriers, from the Otter Valley Railway store.  Molded in grey plastic, these should make kind of a nice detail to add to the layout.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a use for 24 of these, but that's how many are included in the Walthers package.

6 parts on each of 4 sprues.  Walthers Part # 949-4175

I'm not sure if I'll be putting all 24 out on the layout, but I've weathered 12 of them to begin with.

I first sprayed 6 of the barriers with AK Interactive's chipping fluid, and then airbrushed yellow overtop of that - I used ModelFlex Railbox Yellow, which is of course a water based paint.  The other 6 barriers were sprayed Concrete Gray.

To remove some of the yellow paint, I simply rubbed those barriers rather gently with a damp paint brush, which revealed some of the original colour underneath, making a nice weatherworn appearance.  The grime that I then added to the barriers was done by brushing on Burnt Umber and Ivory Black overtop of the of the remained yellow and gray.

Blocking vehicle access to the closed down interlocking tower are two of the yellow barriers

Here, a trio of Jersey barriers separate trailer docks from the rail spur at a warehouse along South Industrial Ave.   

We'll close out this time with a bit of a post script to last week's post about my pellet hopper, Brian Smith sent along this photo from his travels somewhere down there in Fla.

Built by North American Car Company, the MWCX reporting marks indicate the car is owned by MidWest Railcar Company. Looks like this one is showing some age with it's interesting rust pattern.

Plastic Pellets Hopper

I picked up this new-in-box (Walthers') National Steel Car plastics pellet hopper from Craig on one of the facebook groups last weekend.  With this new purchase in mind, I took a ride down to the Sarnia station and freight yard to see if I could find some inspiration for future weathering on this freight car.

I'm very pleased that my new pellet hopper arrived in brand new condition.  No broken or missing parts at all, although it did come with plastic wheels.

My last remaining set of metal wheels quickly and easily replaced the plastic wheels, and I set the pellet hopper out on the layout for a quick picture. 

I didn't see any trains actually running down by the station, as is my usual luck, but C-Yard certainly appeared to be pretty full of cars, also as usual.  Besides the dozens of tank cars, I saw three pellet hoppers coupled together and took photos of them. These may not be the exact type of car as my model, but they're similar enough for me.

Sure, there's lots of graffiti on this ICRX car, but I like the rust streaks

Speaking of rust streaks, this car has some that maybe I could emulate on my model

Very limited rusting here, a paint patch, and a little bit of graffiti

And on the next track over...

This one looks to be a pretty clean pellet hopper, but there are four or five darker grey patches, at least on this side.

So I found lots for me to consider when I get ready to weather my new model.

Have a good week.  Happy modeling.

JSSX 7000

I liked this closeup photo below and thought I should share it.  The locomotive is a GP40X. The high hood at the cab end makes for a nice change on the layout.  It was Sean Steele that said something to me several years ago about I should get a high hood engine for my layout.

Some might remember that I got this one a year or two ago, discovered it to be mechanically damaged, and went through some effort finding the exact trouble, then sourcing parts, and carrying out repairs.  Now, it's one of the smoothest running engines that I have.

JSSX 7000 hooked onto an ABOX type boxcar, now owned and repainted by CN

A view with the 7000 as it pulls the boxcar away from the loading dock and toward the JSSX yard.

One more look at the 7000, this time as it's switching high cube boxcars over on South Industrial Blvd.

I took a quick run down to the Sarnia station this rather dreary March 15th morning, getting there just as this train was slowly approaching.

A closer look at the colourful CN 3115

And a "going away" view of this General Electric ET44AC

 That'll do it for now.  Thanks for looking in.  Have a good week out there.

This and That in March

I was a day late last week updating the top of the blog with a new photo for March. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, the photo for March features my JSSX 5068, a personal favourite of mine, as it hauls a short train beneath the Gratiot Avenue overpass.

My friend Chuck sent along this photo of that he stumbled onto while on facebook

It is a nice looking boxcar, belonging to Jersey Shore Steel.

It's not trains, but here's a photo that I took on March 1st, 2024 down at the local government dock anyway.  Lake freighter Algoma Guardian has been berthed here at the government dock for maintenance over the winter.

With the boat sitting this high out of the water, it kind of makes me wonder how it doesn't just roll over.

Less than 10 minutes after taking the Algoma Guardian picture above, I took this one of CN 4125.  It was shoving a short train into the grain elevator property over on the north side of the government dock

 One of the covered hoppers that were being shoved into the grain elevator that day

Notice that the patched reporting mark letters and numbers aren't quite straight

And on the layout, I thought we'd have a few looks at JSSX 813 as it goes about switching out freight cars

JSSX 813 switching cars at a local warehouse.  I've never actually put a name to this industry.  Not yet anyway.

Different day, same engine just down the track from the 1st picture

Although parts of the engine are blocked from view, this is actually one of my favourite views of my 813.  Maybe it's because of the location.

And to finish up for the week, I'll attach this link to the Truck Stop Hobbies site, which features lots of interesting and helpful details that we railroad modelers might find useful, particularly those of us that lean toward more the modern type of railroading:  https://www.truckstophobbies1-87.com/

ABOX Style Boxcars

I thought we'd have a look at some ABOX freight cars that seem to show up on the railroad here from time to time.  These 50 foot boxcars are easily distinguished from RBOX cars by their featured double doors: one sliding door and one plug-style.

We'll start off with ExactRail models of the FMC-built 5277 cu.ft. boxcars

This model has less grime build-up below the door track areas.  The rusty scratches are burnt sienna artist oil paint.  A little wear can be seen on the red and blue arrows graphic.

(ExactRail) ABOX 51108

Some older notices at the door and tack board, this one also looks like there has been a little more rust that has run off the roof and stained the side panels with a reddish tone.

(ExactRail) ABOX 51114A

Seen here outside of the Tri-State Paper plant, the tack board on this one is a bit worn looking, and notice the wheel spray on the end of the car.  A bit more difficult to see is the grey sealant applied along the roof edge and seams.

And ABOX  52237 is my most recently weathered model, having just come off the workbench.  This boxcar is from Athearn's "Primed for Grime" series, which featured faded lettering, logos and graphics, and a "replacement" plug door in a shade of yellow that is different than the car body as it came straight out of the box.

 (Athearn) ABOX 52237 is posing for a finished photo shortly before it lands on the rails...

Note the difference in the logo lettering on the plug door.  I faded the paint using concrete grey through the airbrush, applied all of the graffiti with decals, weathered the black door with a few drops of Panel Line Brown, and of course added all of the rust. 

And a very similar angle of view of 52237 at it's first customer spot out on the layout

  A proper setting like this make it appear much more "real".

Have a good week of happy modelling