Friday, September 8, 2023

The Blue & Red Cushions Construction Co. - 2023

As the summer draws to a close, it's time to look back on those lazy, hazy, crazy days of the past two months and just what the heck I accomplished model railway-wise. The Blue & Red Cushions Construction Co. was my main focus - an outdoor option - to do some modelling up and away from the layout room. With outdoor layouts last attempted in 2021 (this link includes links to previous outdoor layouts) I moved some individual modelling projects outdoors in 2018, 2022 and now 2023.

Train show finds from the March, 2023 Napanee Train Sale (above) included my main rolling stock project (top photo). Though my haul included many structure sections, I didn't have the space nor inspiration to use them this summer. Back to those hoppers. First, removing the underframe, trucks and couplers to replace them with X2F's while on the blue cushions of the front patio:
A box of X2F's at the ready:
Then some weathering with water-based craft paints after reassembly:
The Conveyor with Industrial Accessories box (below) was a little above my price-point. But once I opened the box, I decided the whole thing was worth assembling and painting. Originally produced in Europe by Piko, mine is by Model Power. I really wanted it for the coal elevator for my Anglin's Coal Yard - lots of other goodies like tools, tanks and garbage cans. A fun couple of afternoons of gluing, painting and grunging-up by the Red & Blue Cushions Construction Co. !
Since the conveyor was two identically-tooled sprues, I ended up with a few spare parts! I'm not sure if I'll keep the bottom unloading hopper, but it's there for now. The wheels turn.
All the tools, barrels, carts, garbage cans and pallets painted while in the red-cushion sunroom!
The warm, late-afternoon sun beams benevolently upon my modelling efforts (below). At top centre there are three sprue parts I severed and painted for a scrap load:
I liked one of the two sprues of figures in my finds, so painted them up. These are most likely two of eight sprues in an original Plasticville box of 48 figures. I haven't yet decided how to approach those rather large, though very stable-looking bases:
Once the fall weather arrives, and the front porch doesn't beckon in daytime nor the sunroom in the evening, it'll be back to nightly operating sessions in the basement layout room!

Running extra...

Ever wanted to take a commuter train from Montreal's Central Station to CN's Taschereau yard? Now you can in this ride-along tail-end commuter train video of a short-lived detour! Check out 'That Van' at the 7:15 mark and the transload at 7:37ish.
Another Napanee event is upcoming - the Greater Napanee Valley Train Show September 16 and 17. Just west of Napanee, CN's Belleville yard power is now BNSF 2926-CN 4798. Most eclectic yard power ever. Fellow Kingston railfan and ARK member Paul Hunter caught the pair being wyed on September 4th. Thanks, Paul!

6 comments:

  1. Hi Eric,

    I recently cycled Kingston-Napanee more or less along the Kingston Sub, even getting to chase a few trains along the way. I was filming for the purpose of later drawing some sketches from the journey, which very soon became loosely Kingston Sub themed! Here it is:

    https://youtu.be/CZE1XCaJF3Q?si=XBM7ZyaTl3hYcdWw

    Maybe TVO's "Train 185" inspired me a bit to do a bit of a "Slow Television"... maybe also your blog had something to do with it!

    Cheers,

    Mike

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  2. Thanks for sharing your video, Mike. I'm also going to include it in next week's Running Extra section to spread it more widely. You captured some awesome footage and I've been on most of those roads. You also found some buildings and scenes with lots of character for your nice sketches.

    Also, glad you found a few trains along the way!
    Eric

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  3. Thanks for sharing The Blue & Red Cushions Construction Co and linking to previous editions. It's such a great idea to take the hobby outside in nice weather, and now I'm hoping to find a suitable outdoor table and chair for next summer.

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  4. I really enjoy, and feel it's imperative to, get outside in the nice weather after a long winter and spring. And if I have something in my chair to work on, it's a good combination.

    Great for small projects, like the ones I hope you'll line up over the winter for 2024!

    Thanks for your comment, Derek.
    Eric

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  5. Great, Now I gotta go to Belleville to try and get the bracketed set of B-Yard Based BN Geeps working Ontario in 2023 (Already got 2098 working Brantford)!

    Stephen

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  6. Hi stephen,

    You might only have to venture to Port Hope or Cobourg during their daily switching sojourns westward. Now BNSF 2926 is with ex-GMTX 4906. Blue and green should never be seen/together/except in the washing machine?

    Definitely more interesting than a GMD-1. Scratch that, a GP9. Scratch that, a safety cab 4700, scratch that it's just different!

    Happy hunting,
    Eric

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