George Dutka’s White River Jct.
photocopier until the structure looked to be HO scale. I then used these pho- tocopies to draw an elevation of the structure. This was one of the easier buildings to scratchbuild.
CV section house In Bob Nimke’s Connecticut River Railroads and Connections the volume that covered the Central Vermont had a good photograph of the Central Vermont section house that I could scale using some known dimensions, such as doors and windows. I made a set of plans, then built the structure full scale. The build- ing is small enough that it did not need to be built as a flat.
Ball signal In the fall of 2005, while visiting White
A Boston & Maine switcher works beside the Twin State Fruit Company building. The CV section house next to it was scratchbuilt from plans the author worked up from photos.
Model Railroader magazine and cut and pasted them until it all looked right. This sat at White River Junction for a couple of years while I sized up my chop job. I also had to figure out how I would build it. The final push to get the structure completed came when Lou Sassi was scheduled to pho- tograph my layout in less than a year. At that point the only structure not fin- ished on the layout was the station. The station walls were made of styrene and covered with brick paper, and the windows were mostly kit- bashed from roundhouse-size windows. The station sign and curved window over the doorway at the front entrance are a photocopy from the plans in Model Railroader, and no one has yet noticed that the windows are not real since they are recessed in the doorway. The signs around the station are actu- ally photocopies of the real ones re- duced and cut down to fit. The platform was made with a styrene border which looks like cut stone.
I
poured Woodland Scenics Smooth-it within the borders. It was then sanded and stained with Woodland Scenics Con- crete liquid pigment (C1217). Carts, crates and luggage were added to the platform, along with passengers waiting for their trains. Many of the passengers are from Woodland Scenics since they are some of the best that I have found that look right for the 1950’s.
Twin State Fruits The Twin State Fruits building dates
back to 1890; it had a shallow gable roof, wood frame, two decorative venti- lators and a false front on the rail side. I had a chance to measure Twin State Fruits back in the early 1990’s (my
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plans were published in the Central Vermont Railway Historical Society’s publication, The Ambassador, Spring 1994), and I used the dimensions to make a building flat which I reduced to about 80% of the original. A paper and cardboard mock-up of Twin State Fruits was built first and used until I knew for sure the size looked right.
Renehan and Ackers Lumber Co. The Renehan and Ackers Lumber building was a Greek Revival structure built circa 1896. At one time it was Hen- ry Perkins Company, a dealer in hides, skins and raw furs. Using a photograph, I made a photocopy of it for the back- ground of the White River Junction scene. Enlarging the photograph of the building so the windows fit those I had chosen for the project yielded an accept- able working plan for what became my model.
White River Paper Co. The White River Paper Company be- gan back in 1881 housed in the union freight house. It moved to different lo- cations over the years and used the small structure on Railroad Row near the station at one point. The struc- ture’s last use, along with Twin State Fruit Co., was as storage for a local sal- vage company. (White River Paper con- tinues on in a new building in Hart- ford, Vermont.) I did not have any dimensions or photos to work with for the White Riv- er Paper Company building, but I did have some angled images found in Bob Nimke’s series of books, Connecticut River Railroads and Connections, that helped me to help come up with a set of plans. I once again worked with the
River Junction, I spoke to Steve Mumley, who was working the White River Flyer that day. He mentioned that workmen, while moving earth around the yard to make room for more parking near the station, came across part of the old ball signal buried in a pit.
I took some photos and measurements of what they found, and when I got home I constructed my own White River Junc- tion ball signal. Although I could not place the Boston & Maine four-ball sig- nal behind the station, as on the proto- type, I did add it in a location where it could be clearly seen.
CV coaling tower The coaling tower was built using a straight-on photo as the basis of my working drawings. Since only a portion of the structure was going to be visible a lot of details were not needed. I scratchbuilt the tower using styrene and a selection of Tichy detail parts. I did a two-part article for the Central Vermont Railway Historical Society that describes how I built my model, in- cluding a group of detailed prototype photos. It was published in The Ambas- sador in 2010.
Future work I still have some work to complete at White River Junction. In the foreground area I will have a parking lot with the boardwalk which leads to the station. In earlier years a small gate and watch- man’s house protected the walkway crossing. I think it would be nice to add this feature, as well. I am considering building a model of the Polka Dot restau- rant that looks today much as it did in 1955. Many train crews have had their breakfast or coffee there over the years. Although the area is small, I think I
have captured the feel and mood of White River Junction as it was in the 1950’s and this area has turned into the focal point on my layout.
OCTOBER 2012
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