Earlier
I wrote about the great Canadian Model Railroad club layout in Belgium built by Evan Daes and
his friends.
As
it turns out, that wasn’t the first Canadian-themed layout the group built. The
first one was the Nitinat River RR, an HO scale sectional logging layout.
The
group, all fans of Canadian railways, selected Vancouver Island as the home for
the layout because some of the club members had visited Canada and liked the
west coast.
The
layout was freelanced, but it was based on a prototype idea.
In
the early 20th century, the Canadian Northern Pacific (the
predecessor of the CNR) intended to build a line from Victoria up to the western
side of Cowichan Lake (now known as Nitinat Camp).
The real line was never completed. But in
the club’s version of history, the line was finished and included a branch line
to Bamfield.
The layout,
which measured 16 by 26 feet, was built in 19 sections, The sections measured 2’6”
wide by 4 feet long.
The track
was all handlaid, using code 70 rail.
The
scenery was made from foam, to keep the sections light. All the buildings and
other structures were made from wood.
On
the layout, the Nitimat RR served logging and mining industries, and a few fish
canneries.
When
not on display, the sections were stored in member’s homes. The club displayed
it once a year at a major European train show.
As you may have noted by now, I’m writing about the layout in the past tense. It was dismantled so club members could make a new more modern Canadian layout.
Only two sections were saved: the Bamfield port and the sawmill at
Franklin.
Before
it was dismantled, the layout was featured in Great Model Railroads, 2013. And
now it is here—in Great Canadian Model Railroads!
Track plan from Great Model Railroads.
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