and some resized pictures. I've just gotten my cd back with another 200 or so fresh pictures, many of them unfit for human consumption. However, here are a few with which I was quite pleased. I hope you enjoy them.
All of today's action takes place at Lowbanks, where it looks as if the CNR has staged a takeover. First up is the 3736, a USRA Mikado, taking a spin on the turntable. She started life as an Athearn, with an Elesco feedwater heater added in addition to her new front end treatment, along with a modified cab roof and tender.
In the background, to the right in the previous photo, we can just see the combine on the rear of a short mixed train powered by Mikado 3529, a 1923 graduate of Montreal Locomotive Works. She's shown here slowing to a stop just west of V.A. Wagner Lumber.
As the Belpaire boilered Mike simmers on the south main, with the Erie Northshore's car shops in the right foreground, a whistle announces the approach of another train. The 3529 is a brass offering from Van Hobbies, modified with an Elesco system.
This view, shot from the roof of the carshop, shows the source of the whistle and the reason for the mixed's delay. It's yet another Canadian National interloper, N-5-c Consolidation 2747, accompanied by Grand Valley 28, also a 2-8-0, hustling up the north main. The pair are in charge of time-sensitive freight off the TH&B interchange at Port Maitland, and they have superiority over the lowly, all-stops mixed. The 2747 is another brass import.
Here's another view, caught by an Erie Northshore employee, as the hotshot hustles up the north main, between the Lowbanks station and the coaling tower, at right.
The duo here are almost to the last crossing before the Maitland river bridge. Stockcar 1355, being lifted from the Lowbanks' stockyards by GVC Mogul 37, whose tender can be seen to the left in one of the preceding photos, has already ensured that highway traffic is well clear of the crossing.
Here's the train at the crossing, as seen from the opposite side of the tracks, courtesy of an employee of Hoffentoth Bros. Coal & Ice. Crazy train nuts!
Here's a last look at the 2747 as she prepares to cross the Maitland River. By not taking water at the tank, to the right, this train will likely have to stop at the Elfrida tank before tackling the long grade to the GVC interchange at Cayuga Junction. That's the Lowbanks stockyards in the background.
Finally, the mixed gets underway. The black sedan, even though there's ample time, won't cross the tracks ahead of the train, since the driver is sprawled on the roof of the water tower taking this photo. Damn fool railfans.
As the big mike finally moves her short train out of town, yet another train nut shows up. This time it's the driver of the Model A: he's abandonned his vehicle to get this "artsy" shot of the loco framed by the railroad sheds to the left and the derelict loco on the right. Sharp-eyed observers will note car 1355 making a reappearance in the background, returning after a quick repair to a broken knuckle.
Our final shot is of Grand Valley combine Willowglade, the accomodation for passengers and tail-end crew alike. She started life as a Rivarossi diner, and after surviving a wreck, was shortened and rebuilt as you see her.
That concludes the train and our story. I hope that you've found it interesting.
Wayne
All of today's action takes place at Lowbanks, where it looks as if the CNR has staged a takeover. First up is the 3736, a USRA Mikado, taking a spin on the turntable. She started life as an Athearn, with an Elesco feedwater heater added in addition to her new front end treatment, along with a modified cab roof and tender.
In the background, to the right in the previous photo, we can just see the combine on the rear of a short mixed train powered by Mikado 3529, a 1923 graduate of Montreal Locomotive Works. She's shown here slowing to a stop just west of V.A. Wagner Lumber.
As the Belpaire boilered Mike simmers on the south main, with the Erie Northshore's car shops in the right foreground, a whistle announces the approach of another train. The 3529 is a brass offering from Van Hobbies, modified with an Elesco system.
This view, shot from the roof of the carshop, shows the source of the whistle and the reason for the mixed's delay. It's yet another Canadian National interloper, N-5-c Consolidation 2747, accompanied by Grand Valley 28, also a 2-8-0, hustling up the north main. The pair are in charge of time-sensitive freight off the TH&B interchange at Port Maitland, and they have superiority over the lowly, all-stops mixed. The 2747 is another brass import.
Here's another view, caught by an Erie Northshore employee, as the hotshot hustles up the north main, between the Lowbanks station and the coaling tower, at right.
The duo here are almost to the last crossing before the Maitland river bridge. Stockcar 1355, being lifted from the Lowbanks' stockyards by GVC Mogul 37, whose tender can be seen to the left in one of the preceding photos, has already ensured that highway traffic is well clear of the crossing.
Here's the train at the crossing, as seen from the opposite side of the tracks, courtesy of an employee of Hoffentoth Bros. Coal & Ice. Crazy train nuts!
Here's a last look at the 2747 as she prepares to cross the Maitland River. By not taking water at the tank, to the right, this train will likely have to stop at the Elfrida tank before tackling the long grade to the GVC interchange at Cayuga Junction. That's the Lowbanks stockyards in the background.
Finally, the mixed gets underway. The black sedan, even though there's ample time, won't cross the tracks ahead of the train, since the driver is sprawled on the roof of the water tower taking this photo. Damn fool railfans.
As the big mike finally moves her short train out of town, yet another train nut shows up. This time it's the driver of the Model A: he's abandonned his vehicle to get this "artsy" shot of the loco framed by the railroad sheds to the left and the derelict loco on the right. Sharp-eyed observers will note car 1355 making a reappearance in the background, returning after a quick repair to a broken knuckle.
Our final shot is of Grand Valley combine Willowglade, the accomodation for passengers and tail-end crew alike. She started life as a Rivarossi diner, and after surviving a wreck, was shortened and rebuilt as you see her.
That concludes the train and our story. I hope that you've found it interesting.
Wayne