CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Subdivision

More 3D Printing and Model Railroading (and a Printed Dress)

2012-02-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

The E33: Coming to a printer near you?

An exhaust manifold, an artificial leg, an aircraft door-hinge, shoes—even a dress (see photo below)—these are some of the things that can now be made through 3D printing.

Earlier, I wrote how 3D printing—which works by building products up layer by layer from powdered metal, droplets of plastic or other materials—could revolutionize the hobby of model railroading.

3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, is being used to make all sorts of new items. But it is what it can do for model railroading that mostly concerns us.

One of the things 3D printing can is make models of unique locomotives that likely would not be made by manufacturers using conventional means, due to the low demand.

One such unit is General Electric E33 (above), which is being rendered for 3D printing in N scale by a Paul Burkitt-Gray of Claverton Engineering in Great Britain. Paul has designed it to fit on the Atlas C628 chassis.

The E33 was originally built for the Virginian Railway in 1955, then sold by its successor the Norfolk and Western to the New Haven, where they continued through Penn Central and Conrail ownership until retirement in 1981.

(There was a rumour in 2010 that Bachmann would make the E33 in N scale, but I couldn't find anything recent to substantiate it. They did make it in HO; it is sold out on their website.)

You can see more of Paul’s amazing work on Your Model Railway forum and at RMweb.co.uk.

Oh, yes—about that 3D printed dress. See it below from an article in The Economist about the 2011 3D printing conference, called Euromold, in Germany.

Adding Real Train Sounds to Videos

2012-02-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

Can you hear those engines growling up the grade?

In 2008, I started making videos of my layout. It became sort of a hobby-within–a-hobby, and an enjoyable one at that. Others seem to agree; to date, my videos have been viewed over 260,000 times on my channel on YouTube.

In addition to providing enjoyable hours in the layout room, it also taught me about story-telling through images, and about the editing process.

At first, I let the trains themselves provide the sound—which wasn’t hard, since many of my locomotives are Athearn Blue Box! Later, I started adding music; jazz, mostly, because that’s what I like, and because it sounded railroady.

Lately, I’ve begun adding real train sounds. At first, I though this would be impossible—how would I collect real train sounds? I don’t have a good video camera or sound equipment to get them from the prototype.

I checked on the Web to see if there was a source of train sounds. There were—for a price. I wasn’t going to go there for this experimental project.

Then I realized that lots of great railroad sounds were on YouTube, in the thousands of railroad videos available on that online video sharing site.

But how to transfer those sounds to where I could use them? That’s where a bit of free software, called FreeStudio, comes in. FreeStudio lets you download YouTube videos and convert them into MP3s.

So I went to YouTube and listened to a lot of videos. I watched them, too, but I was really searching for good and appropriate sound.

Among the things I noticed is that a number of videos had a lot of wind noise, making them unusable. On some, people talked. Lots were shot at railway crossings. That’s fine if you want to match up sounds that include crossing bells, but not so good if you are matching sound to a train in a remote location with no roads.

Many also feature mainline action. That means fast trains. Since trains on the CP Rail M & M Sub. usually don’t zip by at high speeds, they aren’t all that useful. Videos featuring trains starting up were welcome, since that provided good slow speed sounds. Ditto for trains going up a grade or coming into a town.

Another thing to look for is short videos. Videos on YouTube can’t be longer than 15 minutes. But something seven minutes or longer is a long time when you are hunting for the right sound when creating a video.

When I found some videos I liked, I saved them to a YouTube playlist and later downloaded them into my computer using FreeStudio. After downloading them, I added them to a playlist in Windows Media.

I use Windows MovieMaker to make my videos; it’s about as simple a program as you can find. It comes with Microsoft XP, and maybe with other versions, too. After making your video, or inserting a finished one into the video line, you drop the sound you want to use into the audio line. Once there, you can trim it to fit.

The audio line in MovieMaker shows the strength of the signal. This is helpful in determining where it is louder and quieter. Note: To get the best result, you need to turn the video's audio off.

You can also loop the sound. If you find a good section of a train passing by, but it’s too short for your video segment, you just need to copy it and paste it into the audio line again. A bit of overlap between the two clips makes it seamless.

Windows Movie Maker also allows you to fade in and fade out the sound, which is helpful when a train is approaching or passing.

One thing I haven’t bothered with is matching diesel types. I’m sure there are those who can tell the sound of an SD70MAC from an SD40-2, but I can’t.

One thing I have been careful to do is to try to match the number of units in a train with the number of units on the model. If the real train has four units on it, and the model has two, it will sound a bit strange to hear more locomotives pass by than you can see.

Adding sound has opened up a new area of the hobby-within-a-hobby for me, and it will breathe new life into my old videos.

You can hear (and see) two of my videos with real train sounds here and here. I wrote some guidelines for making layout videos here.

Final Look at the Canada Central: Video

2012-02-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

There are lots of videos of layouts in action or under construction; I'm not aware of any showing one being dismantled.

Until now, at least. Discovery Channel's Daily Planet show had a feature about Montreal's Canada Central layout on February 8. The segment was about the loss of the layout, one of the largest (if not the largest) in Canada.

In addition to footage of final runs, the segment showed members beginning the process of taking the layout apart--prying buildings off the layout, plucking off trees, removing wiring, etc.

It's a bit sad and poignant at parts, particularly when members dismantle portions they laboured over for a long time.

Click here to see the show. The segment about the Canada Central is at about the seven-minute mark.

Below find a few more photos of this layout. You can more photos on this blog by clicking here.

Sun Dogs and Trains

2012-02-10T16:37:00.000-08:00

Along with the Northern Lights, up here in the Great White North we also get sun dogs.

Sun dogs typically appear as bright bursts of light when the sun is low on the horizon. They are formed when sunlight passes through ice crystals.

The photo above appeared today in our local newspaper, the Winnipeg Free Press. It shows sun dogs and the CPR rail yard.

Enjoy!

So That's How They Ballast Track in Norway

2012-02-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

Or, at least, that’s what the photo above might make you believe.

Actually, it’s a creative photo by a Norwegian modeler who goes by the name of “Jevistad.” I was made aware of his great layout by a poster on Railroad Line Forums.

The caption on the photo says: “Er ikke helt fornøyd med fargen på ballasten, så nå blir det lagt på usmusset."

All I understand is the word “ballast.” A Norwegian to English translator tells me it says: “Aren't absolutely satisfied along with color at the ballast, saw now becomes facts stuck at usmusset.”

No matter; in any language, it’s a great layout, as the photos below attest.

Jevistad also has a channel on YouTube; click here to see the layout in action. You can see more photos at http://forum.mjf.no/forum_posts.asp?TID=1502&title=fra-togkjelleren.

According to the poster on Railroad Line Forums, the layout is called Indre Stambane, which in English means the Inner Mainline. It’s a fictitious “what if” layout, but he says “it has all the typical Norwegian details . . . the scenes are like the real thing and the scenery is typical in Norway.”

Maybe it’s time for Great Norwegian Layouts!

Model Railroad News Back from the Dead

2012-02-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

Here's something unexpected--Model Railroad News is back.

In an earlier post, I noted that the publication, whose goal is to “provide quality news and content to help modelers of all scales and backgrounds," had closed.

These days, it's pretty rare for a print publication to return from the dead. But that's what's happening; MRN has been purchased by the White River Productions, which publishes 21 historical society magazines, plus calendars, books, and other railroad-related items.

The delayed Nov/Dec 2011 issue of MRN will soon be on its way to subscribers, followed by future issues.

Good on MRN, and on White River Productions, I say. That said, if I was a subscriber, I might hedge my bets by renewing for only one year at a time--just in case.

Forty-Foot Boxcars on the M & M Sub.

2012-02-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

One of the unique trains on the Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. is made up entirely of 40-foot boxcars.

Hold on, you might say—isn’t the M & M Sub. set in the early to mid-1990s? Aren’t 40-foot boxcars mostly gone from the railways by that time?

Yes—and no. Yes, by that time 40-footers were mostly a thing of the past. But you could still find them on Canada’s prairies, being used in grain service.

Although covered hoppers had supplanted boxcars for grain service by that time, there were still a number of light-rail branchlines on the prairies where those cars couldn’t go.

Since it was cheaper and easier for the railways to repair boxcars for use on lightweight branchlines than to upgrade the roadbed, ties and rails to support the heavier covered hopper cars, CN and CP Rail decided to go with the less expensive option. Money from the Federal government helped them with their decision.

Cars used in this service were marked with a wheat sheaf chevron, to indicate their purpose and lading. CP Rail’s cars came in various versions—boxcar red with script and block lettering, and red with the MultiMark.

Both railways sent boxcars loaded with grain from the prairies to Vancouver and Thunder Bay. Additionally, CN used them on its former lightweight line to the Arctic port of Churchill, Manitoba.

Over time, the need for grain boxcars fell as branchlines were upgraded or abandoned.

Eric Gagnon, on his Trackside Treasure blog, notes that CN and CP Rail had about 13,000 40-foot grain boxcars between them in 1981. Of that total, CP Rail had 4,545; by 1985 that number had fallen to 2,972. In 1986 the railway had 1,260; there were 672 in 1990, 363 in 1992 and 209 in 1993.

My train is made up of cars from various manufacturers, in boxcar red and red with the MultiMark. The wheat sheaf chevrons are dry transfers from CDS. All except one or two of the cars were bought used; a few were repainted and re-lettered. It was enjoyable to scour used bins and trains shows to find cars suitable for the train.

Before putting the cars into service, all I needed to do was remove the roofwalks, plug the holes and add the chevrons; that, plus weather them up a bit.

(To be accurate, the cars should have six-foot doors. Since my goal is plausibility, not realism, I didn’t worry about this discrepancy while creating my consist.)

Even though I model the modern era, I find I have an affinity for these shorter cars. Plus, it’s quite something to see a 27-car train of boxcars snake its way around the layout.

I’ve made a couple of videos featuring this train; the most recent features real train sounds—my first effort at adding the sounds of real trains to my layout videos. You can see it here.

(Thanks to Eric Gagnon for the proto photos.)

Free Vintage Signs

2012-02-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

One way to help set a layout’s location and era is signs—on buildings and billboards. But where to get them, especially if you are looking for vintage signage?

One good place is a business that sells old metal signs—a business like Tin Sign City. The company, which sells metal signs for use as home décor, posts photos of the signs it sells on its website. A sampling of the signs it carries is posted here.

No 1950s layout should be
without one of these!

All a modeler needs to do is copy them, insert the pictures into a Word document, re-size them and print them. That, plus add them to the layout.

Signs on the website include old advertising, gas stations and automotive, businesses, aviation, bars, beer, baseball, cigarettes, coffee, agricultural, road signs and railroad logos and signs. There are hundreds to choose from.

Those were the days . . .

You can visit the website by clicking here.

RIP, Ernie Labovich, a Model Railroad Friend

2012-01-31T13:30:00.000-08:00

My two cars from Ernie's old layout, the Cherry
Point & Western.

My friend Ernie Labovich passed away December 1, 2011. In addition to being a skilled jazz musician, he was a model railroader. His layout, called the Cherry Point & Western. was named after the song Cherry Point by Neil Hefti--one of his favorites.

Ernie's layout, built in the 1960s and 70s, was a product of its time. It had low benchwork, tight curves, duckunders, lots of track filling small spaces. But as a newcomer to the hobby, it impressed the heck out of me; I always enjoyed visiting his layout.

Among other things, it featured a bandstand in a park; Ernie had rigged up a tape recorder (remember those?) to play jazz songs. He always liked showing it off.

Ernie.

As Ernie's health declined, he could no longer get downstairs, much less navigate the duckunders. When he and his partner moved to an apartment, the layout came down. He gifted me with two cars--both completely out of my era, but which I still cherish.

I made a short slide show of the CP Rail M & M Sub. in Ernie's honour, using a song from his CD "A Taste of New Orleans." You can watch it here.

Bowser to Make Canadian SD40-2s

2012-01-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

This is not the new Bowser SD40-2, but an
excellent kitbash of an Athearn unit by my
good friend Manny Jacob. I hope the new units
look this good!

I reported earlier that Bowser was planning to come out with a new Canadian locomotive. Today they announced what it will be: The SD40-2, in several Canadian variants.

All I can say is: Wow!

I also noted earlier that this is a great time to be a Canadian model railroader. With the recent announcements by Athearn of their CN GP38-2, InterMountain planning to bring out SD40-2s in all its phases, and now Bowser planning to do the same unit--not to mention all the great stuff from Rapido and True Line Trains--it's a really great time to be a Canadian model railroader.

New CN Wide Cab GP38-2 from Athearn

2012-01-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month I wrote about how this is a great time to be a Canadian model railroader. With Athearn's anouncement of a new CN wide cab Genesis line GP38-2, it just got better!

Athearn introduced its newest locomotive at the Amherst Railway Club's show on January 28. The first four units will be in Southern Pacific, MoPac, CN and Southern (high hood). Delivery is slated for late 2012.

But it's the CN unit that has Canadians excited. This is a great addition to the growing line-up of products for modellers in this country.

Click here to watch a video about the new units.

Photos by Jeff Shultz for Model Railroad Hobbyist.

Man, er, Model Railroad Cars Overboard!

2012-01-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

Containers headed for Davy Jones' locker.

Most model railroad items are made in China these days, as we all know. They come to North America in containers on huge container ships.

Most of the time, the journey is uneventful. But every now and then a shipper learns that his or her shipment was lost at sea—never again to be seen.

That’s what almost happened to Jason Shron of Rapido Trains. Last week he learned that the Cosco Yokohama, the ship carrying a container of his passenger cars, lost 29 containers in the Pacific Ocean.

Luckily, it seems that his container was not one of the ones washed overboard. But what if it had? His wife, a noted Canadian author, suggested he write the following to those waiting for their orders:

“Dear customer. We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that your container was unloaded on January 23rd. The bad news is that the vessel docked on January 25th.”

Lost containers at sea is not a rare occurrence. It is reported that over 10,000 containers fall off of container ships every year. Many of them float at the surface for months, posing a serious danger to vessels—especially smaller craft. Some make it to shore, but most eventually sink to the seafloor.

This container made landfall.

Container at the bottom of the ocean.

The most famous container lost at sea was the one that carried rubber ducks. In 1992, almost 29,000 of them fell off a container ship into the Pacific Ocean. They’ve been floating around the world on ocean currents ever since, with some washing up on the shores of Great Britain, 17,000 miles away.

Routes taken by the rubber ducks.

The spill actually turned out to be a boon for ocean researchers; the duck’s progress has aided their efforts to map various ocean currents.

Now if Jason’s trains had gone overboard, I wonder what beachcombers would have thought if HO scale passenger cars started washing up on various shores? Maybe Jason could send out another note:

“Dear customer: We have good news and bad news. The good news is that your order has finally arrived. The bad news is it’s in Australia.”

InterMountain CP Rail SD40-2 Units: Could it Happen?

2012-01-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

A new InterMountain SD40-2; will they
make one in CP Rail, too?

Long time readers of this blog know that I would like nothing better than a quality CP Rail SD40-2 unit.

My best bet would be Atlas, but they don't seem to going in that direction. Athearn has made one in CP Rail livery, but it is a generic model in Action Red.

But now there's hope: InterMountain has announced they will make the SD40-2, and that they intend to produce "every configuration" of this iconic unit in HO scale over the next few years. Right now, they are offering the unit in UP, SF, BN, ICE, CSX, NS, Pan Am and GATX.

Since CP Rail purchased hundreds of these units (it was one of the largest buyers), I am hoping InterMountain will make them for that railway, too--with the proper noses, headlight positions, bell, railings and steps. (I can always dream!)

I decided to ask the company if that was the case. The answer wasn't yes, but it wasn't no.

Here's what Richard Frazier of InterMountain said in reply:

"This was a very popular prototype and it is our intention to produce many of these models. Though the specific model you mention is not currently on the list, I would keep an eye out for future announcements."

So there's hope!

Warren Buffett: Model Railroader?

2012-01-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

By now many people have seen the video of Warren Buffett playing the ukulele on Chinese state television during the Chinese New Year.

Most commentators have focused on his playing and singing--and wondering why on earth he permitted the video, taped last year for a charity dinner organized by a Chinese investor, to be broadcast in that country.

But I'm not interested in his playing or singing. (Even if the song is "I've been working on the railroad.") I'm more interested in what appears to be a Lionel train layout behind one of the world's wealthiest men. Is Warren Buffett a model railroader?

According to the Nov. 11, 2011 New York Times, Buffett "collects model trains." So maybe it's true--the video certainly lends credence to that report.

(He's also wearing a shirt that says: "Still plays with trains." Since he owns BNSF, that could mean the real kind, as well.)

Then there's this interesting tidbit; earlier I posted an article about an amazing 4,000 square foot O scale layout. Apprently, the person who owns it, and who prefers to be anonymous, lives in Nebraska.

Warren Buffett also lives in Nebraska.

Say, do you think . . . ?

Click here to watch the video.

The CP Rail Multimark

2012-01-22T10:43:00.000-08:00

Last year I wrote a post about the CN “wet noodle,” on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. Since I model CP Rail, it only seems right to post something about that railway’s unique logo—the Multimark.

The Multimark was introduced in 1968. It was made up of a triangle to suggest motion or direction; a circle to suggest global activities (the CPR also owned an airline and ships); and a square to suggest stability.

The first Multimark on locomotives is known as the large Multimark; it covered the back of the units from the walkway to roof. Later, it was shrunk to fit from the walkway to the bottom of the grill. This is known as the small Multimark.

The large Multimark.

There doesn’t appear to have been an official date or time when the Multimark era ended; it just sort of faded away. The first unit not to be painted with a Multimark reportedly was GP7 1684 in 1987.

The Multimark logo was applied to everything from teacups to airplanes to ships to boxcars—the CPR at the time was more than a railway, owning ships, hotels, an airline and a trucking line. Each operating division had its own colour.

Here's how it looked on a ship:

And here's how it looked on an airplane:

In addition to the Multimark, CP Rail also colour-coded its freight car fleet. Green was for newsprint service boxcars; yellow, refrigerator cars, insulated boxcars and vans (cabooses); red for general service boxcars, gondolas and flatcars; black for open and covered hoppers; silver for mechanical reefers. The photo below show the railway's publicity train during its cross-Canada tour. (Split apart at the Spiral Tunnels for photo purposes.)

The Multimark was also known by railfans as Pacman for its resemblance to the early video game symbol.

The railway released a booklet to illustrate how its logo and colour scheme would look on rolling stock. Here are a few pages:

Since I model the early 1990s, the Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. has a number of Multimark units (both large and small), no Multimark and CP Rail System (two flags) units, plus SOO Line, rent-a-wrecks and lots of rolling stock with the Multimark in various freight car colours. It’s another reason why I like modeling this time period.

Some of the images on this page from cprdieselroster, OKthePK and Old Time Trains.

A Fine Summer Day at Peace River Bridge

2012-01-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

I was going through some old photos, and found these from a summer day a few years ago. I was out railfanning by the Peace River bridge, catching northbounds on the M & M Sub. It's a good memory on a cold January day.

(This scene can only live in memory now. I dismantled this part of the layout a year ago.)

Layout Progress: (re) Wiring

2012-01-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

A simple way to attach feeder wires.

After dissembling a large section of the M & M Sub., I had wires to reconnect. At first, I thought it would be easy--a few reconnections and back in business. Wrong!

All layouts, we know, have gremlins. They usually only come out when company comes to visit. Some gremlins hide in the trackwork, mischievously derailing trains in places they never derailed before.

Some hide in locomotives and rolling stock; normally reliable engines and freight cars suddenly develop problems--the locos won't go, or the freight cars decide not to stay on the tracks.

My gremlins hide in the wiring. Fortunately, they never come out when company is around. But whenever I do anything to the wiring--such as move a wire--they become extremely agitated and offended. (It's as if I disrupt some mysterious natural balance.)

That's when normally reliable wiring doesn't work anymore. That's also when you'll find me underneath the benchwork, chasing down the problem (and cursing under my breath).

So I shouldn't have been surprised at what happened when I disconnected wires to four blocks while taking down the centre penninsula.

(Editor's note: "Blocks" are things that model railroaders who use DC--otherwise known as Dinosaur Control--use to power their trains. If you are under the age of 20, ask your grandfather.)

Suddenly, blocks that worked fine before the changes stopped working, including blocks nowhere near the now absent penninsula. Fortunately, I was able to find the problems with a minimum of effort, and soon had things back up and running again.

Since I also installed some new trackwork on the new lower level, I needed to add new feeders. There is a school of thought out there that maintains, with near-religious fervour, that feeders should be soldered to every section of flextrack. No doubt, this works fine. No doubt, too, it takes time.

I have discovered that three feeders per block is sufficient--one at each end and one in the middle. That way, if a joiner fails somewhere along the line, power will get to the track one way or another. (DCC may be another matter.)

One thing I have to admit, though, is that I can't solder to save my life. At least, not neatly. My early attempts to solder wires to tracks resulted in unsightly blobs that were impossible to hide or disguise. I needed a better way.

I found it with track joiners. What I do is put a small piece of track upside down on the layout, or any other flat surface. I attach a joiner, then solder a feeder wire to the bottom of the joiner.

When I want to attach it to the rail, I either drill a hole (through the plywood) or poke a hole (through Styrofoam) and drop the wire into the hole. I connect the wire to the main feeder below the layout with a marette wire connector. Best of all, it's practically invisible (see top photo).

It's a simple solution, and serves me well. As a bonus, nobody can see my lousy soldering.

Chinese Factory Closing: Athearn Confirms it is Affected

2012-01-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

Athearn has confirmed that is one of the companies affected by the closing of the Chinese factory. The following has been posted by the company on their Facebook page:

"As one of the oldest brands in the model railroad industry, Athearn has close ties with most major railroad model manufacturers. Unfortunately, from time to time a supplier may be unable meet their obligations, and despite their best efforts be required to discontinue business. We are saddened by the recent loss of one of our close manufacturing partners, and their several hundred workers that have now received their pay but lost their jobs.

"We believe our remaining manufacturing partners, our relationships with them, and our combined capacity will certainly allow us to meet all future market requirements. However, during the short term we do expect some product delivery dates to slip, so please stay tuned to our Facebook site while we do our best to keep everyone up to date on this very fluid situation.

"We do expect to deliver our Genesis DDA40X, Genesis Bay-Window Caboose, our next run of SD70ACe/SD70M-2s, and several other products in the first half of 2012, in addition to making some VERY exciting new product announcements in the coming weeks ahead."

Some Photos from the M & M Sub. (or, no Tebow Miracle)

2012-01-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

I was going to watch the Broncos-Patriots playoff game last night, but it was clear pretty early on that there would be no Tebow miracle. So I decided to take some photos of the layout instead, experimenting with various intensities of light and wide angle options. The results are on this page.

Chinese Manufacturer Closes: Update

2012-01-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

An update on the Chinese factory closing: One report indicates that one of the companies caught in the closing is Athearn. If that’s true, it could mean delays as that company seeks to find a new source for models—not to mention trying to get its hands on products that are already made, but not shipped out of the now-closed factory.

Closure to bring production back home?

One common thread on the forums where this closure is being discussed is the hope that rising costs in China will prompt model railroad manufacturers to bring manufacturing back to North America.

On the Canadian Model Trains forum on Yahoo!, Rapido Trains founder and president Jason Shron discounts that notion. According to Jason, it will never be economical for economical for manufacturers to bring production back home.

“For tooling and injection, the costs are not that different,” he says. “The issue is assembly and decorating. To do this here will increase the price by a factor of two or three. Who is willing to pay $100 per freight car so it has a ‘Made in Canada’ label?”

Return of kits?

Another common thread is that maybe this will herald the end of manufacturers making mostly ready-to-run in China, and a return to kits.

Says Jason: “If people want kits, then manufacturers will supply them. If I thought I could cover my costs, pay my overheads, and have 15% left over for profit by making kits, then I would make them tomorrow.”

But, he goes on to say, “here are some cold, hard numbers. Our new meat reefer has sold very well. We have offered a fully undecorated kit, an undecorated but assembled car, and a painted and assembled but unlettered version that will require one evening of decal application—an easy job.

“The combined sales of all three of those kit or kit-type items equal EIGHT PERCENT of our total sales of meat reefers.”

If modelers want to keep retail prices really down, the only option is an undecorated kit, he says. “Basically inject the parts, stick them in a box, and send them to customers. But not many people want that.”

Adds Bill Schneider, formerly of Branchline Trains, and now on staff at Rapido: “The issue of kits vs. RTR comes up regularly on numerous lists and always seems to start a heated debate. [But] in today's market rolling stock kits just don't sell enough to make them worthwhile producing in large numbers, and certainly would not survive as a stand-alone project.

"The demand from the hobby market (shops and consumers) for highly detailed kits that take more than three minutes to assemble is just not there. If we (Rapido) had to rely on kit sales without an RTR option in today's market then I think that I would quickly be out looking for work!”

Chinese Manufacturer of Model Trains Closes; What are the Implications?

2012-01-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

A large manufacturer of model railroad products in China has closed. The closure will be felt throughout the hobby, as explained by Jason Shron of Rapido Trains below. It will also adversely affect thousands of Chinese, who lost their jobs.

Here is Jason's message, sent out today:

Hi all,

A large Chinese supplier of model trains closed down today. This factory employed 3,000 people and was a major producer for North American manufacturers.

This is the second large supplier to shut their doors in two years. It will no doubt contribute to delays across the industry as that factory's clients try and move their production to other, overworked factories.

The reality is that model railroad price increases (averaging 10%-25%) have not kept pace with cost increases in China, and it is often difficult for the Chinese suppliers to stay in business while meeting the demanded price point from their major North American clients.

Our industry is currently tied to Chinese production, as southern China has developed the special skill set required to produce model trains. Bringing the manufacturing back to North America would cost even more, and there are no reliable model train factories set up yet in places like India.

So I think we're looking at tough times ahead in our industry: more delays and even larger price increases. At some point many modellers will say "that's it - this hobby is too expensive!" and leave. With lower sales, the prices will increase more. So this could be the beginning of an escalating negative spiral.

So far, Rapido has largely been spared from most major cost increases, but I have been warned that our costs are going up soon as well. That being said, we are looking at ways to avoid getting caught up in that negative spiral and keep our quality high and prices competitive. I will keep you guys informed of our progress.

3,000 people in China have just lost their jobs a week before Chinese New Year. Not a good day.

Best regards,

Jason

A Great Time to be a Canadian Model Railroader

2012-01-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

Coming soon: The SW1200-RS

It's a great time to be a Canadian HO scale model railroader.

Not only do we have homegrown companies like Rapido Trains and True Line Trains bringing out great passenger cars, vans (cabooses, for Americans), and unique Canadian locomotives (hello GMD-1!), we also have American manufacturers producing great new Canadian products.

This includes Bowser, which brought out their ALCO C-630M in CPR, CP Rail, BC Rail, CB&NS and CN liveries; Atlas, with its CN GP40-2 wide cab; and InterMountain, with its CN SD40-2 wide cab—not to mention all that great new Canadian rolling stock.

And not only that; we can look forward to more great releases in the future, with True Line planning to make a CPR SW1200-RS, and an ALCO RS-18u. Rapido is planning an MLW FPA4 and FPB4, and I’m told that Bowser plans to bring out yet another well-known Canadian prototype (no word on which one). Athearn, meanwhile, plans to do the CN GP9.

All of this is pretty remarkable when you consider the small size of the Canadian model railroad market. According to one informed estimate, there are only 8,000 to 10,000 serious Canadian model railroaders—about five to seven percent of the North American model railroad market.

It's a big change from when I got back into the hobby in 1987, after an 11-year hiatus. Back then, there were very few Canadian products available. In fact, one of the main reasons I model CP Rail is that there was much more of that railway available in HO scale than any other Canadian road back then. (Having grown up a block from a CN branchline in Ontario, I am more naturally inclined toward that railway.)

As one poster said on the Canadian Model Trains forum on Yahoo!: “Never in the history of HO modelling have we been so fortunate to have such an abundance and variation of new quality Canadian-detailed products, either already delivered or on the drawing table."

Amen to that!

Photo credit: Michael Taylor

Amazing 4,000 Square Foot Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Layout

2012-01-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

There’s only one word for this layout: “Wow!”

OK—maybe two: “Holy cow!”

This custom made O scale two-rail layout fills a 4,000 square foot room. It is based on the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific. a short 167-mile line owned by Canadian National that runs from Fort Frances, Ont. to Duluth, Minn. (But nowhere near the Pacific, unless you count CN’s connection to the west coast.)

The layout, which is reportedly in Nebraska, is being built by Scale Model Services of Colorado. It is housed in a 100 by 59 foot building and features nearly 3,000 feet of track and 150 turnouts.

Each of the three yards on the layout can hold upwards of 150 cars, and each yard features a six-stall roundhouse. Many of the structures are unique and will be scratch-built, with depots built to Canadian National standard designs.

The layout represents the 1950s. The majority of the steam locos are re-detailed Weaver 2-8-0 Consolidations. The RS-11s are also Weaver. Construction has been going on for two-and-a-half years.

Says the builder: “This is truly a labor of love for all involved. We are building this layout as if it is in our own basement, with great attention to detail and deliberate planning and model work . . . The final railroad will be a fine example of 2 rail O scale modeling that reflects both the owners’ and my own vision.”

I have a soft spot in my heart for the DW&P, since my CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota is inspired by it. Like this layout, the M & M Sub. runs from Winnipeg (staging) through Fort Francis to Duluth (also staging). My effort is more freelanced, however—starting with the idea that the line is owned by CP Rail—and much, much smaller.

Wouldn't it be great to see this layout in person, and operate on it?

Click here to go to the Scale Model Services website to see more photos and get more info about this amazing layout.

Click here to visit the CN Lines web page about the DW&P.

The Craigellachie Kid, or the Boy in the Picture

2012-01-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

Can you spot the boy in the picture?

It’s one of Canada’s most iconic photos—the driving of the Last Spike to mark the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway on Nov. 7, 1885 at Craigellachie, B.C.

The famous photo shows a crowd gathered around CPR financier Donald Smith as he drives the fabled spike. But who is that boy peering at the camera from behind him?

His name is Edward Mallandaine, and he’s known in Canada as “the boy in the picture.” And now he’s also the subject of a book of the same name, by Ray Argyle.

Says Argyle of The Boy in the Picture: “The book recounts Edward's leaving home to volunteer for the North-West Rebellion, only to find the uprising quelled before he can reach the prairies. His real adventure begins when he catches on as a dispatch rider carrying mail and supplies by horseback across the unfinished gap of the railway in British Columbia’s Monashee Mountains. That puts him in the right time and place to be part of the driving of the Last Spike.”

There's that boy again.

On the day of the great occasion, 18 year-old Mallandaine squeezed his way to the front of the assembled crowd for a better view. In so doing, he not only watched history happen—he became part of it.

Fifty years later, he recalled that historic day:

"Soon there remained but a single rail to be laid . . . The spectators, numbering probably 50 outside of the workmen, intently watched each spike as it was driven. Finally, there remained but one more spike to be driven. It was partly driven in and a hammer was given to Sir Donald Smith to drive it home.

“Everybody cheered; the locomotives whistled and shrieked; several short speeches were made; hands were shaken, and Major Rogers, the discoverer of the pass named after him, became so gleeful that he up-ended a huge tie and tried to mark the spot by the side of the track by sticking it in the ground."

Mallandaine’s story was first told in Pierre Berton’s book The Last Spike: The Great Railway 1881-1885. But Argyle knew him when he was a young boy and Mallandaine was an old man—Argyle’s family rented a house from Mallandaine in Creston, B.C., a mountain town he helped to found in 1889. The young Argyle was entertained by Mallandaine's stories of life on the wild Canadian frontier; The Boy in the Picture is the result.

Mallandaine—also known as the Craigellachie Kid, after the site of the Last Spike ceremony—died in 1949 at 82. But the photo lives on, and so, too, does his story in Argyle’s book.

(Mallandaine’s quote is from Canadian Railway Stories: 100 Years of History and Lore, by Adolf & Okan Hungry Wolf.)

150,000 Views

2012-01-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Sometime on New Year's Eve, this blog passed 150,000 views.

Compared to many other popular blogs, 150,000 views is no big deal. But it feels significant to me. I'm grateful and humbled that so many people want to read my ramblings.

As I said when this blog reached other page-view milestones, I started it just for me--a way to chart the progress of the M & M Sub. and indulge in a little bit of fun writing. (As opposed to the kind of writing I do for work--which is also fun, but in a different, employable sort of way.)

It was, as a friend noted, sort of an online book or magazine about the layout or, at the very least, a simple record of its progress.

Along the way I decided to post photos and information about layouts made by others, along with prototype information. A few philosophical musings about photography, what Chinese workers think about model railroading and mandalas were thrown in for good measure.

At its most basic, this blog is a way to say that anyone can make a great model railroad, no matter their skill or finances. The CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. is pretty simple--no DCC, no sound-equipped locomotives, no code 83 track.

I don't worry about fidelity to prototype (plausibility is my goal), and I'm not embarrased to be running Athearn Blue Box units, along with an assortment of rolling stock from Tyco, Like-Like (the older kind), Lionel and others (along with the newer RTR models).

For the last 17 years, the layout has given me something creative to do, and occasionally kept me sane. And the blog has been a hobby within a hobby, also providing an outlet for creativity and, maybe, my sanity too.

Layout Progress: Done! (Sort Of)

2011-12-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

It's taken awhile, but trains are finally running on the new one-level centre pennisula. Yesterday I reconnected the track leading from the Fort Frances yard, around the penninsula and into the storage room with the lower level loop and helix. It's good to finally have this part of the reconstruction done!

Now comes the fun part: Scenery. Right now I'm thinking I will reconstitute the old upper level town of Ritchie (named after my good friend Rick Ritchie) on the new lower level, albeit with fewer sidings. I don't intend to install a view block between the tracks on either side of the penninsula, though--just some hills and lots of trees.

Altogether, the new addition adds just over a minute of running time to the layout; including the helix, it takes about seven minutes between staging yards.

In other words, it's been a constructive Christmas break. Now I can take my time to creat new scenery over the next months.

Below find a photographic timeline of the progress to date.

A Visit to the Winnipeg Railway Museum

2011-12-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

The Winnipeg Railway Museum is located in the
historic Union station.

The Winnipeg Railway Museum is dedicated to preserving Manitoba’s railway heritage. Located at historic Union Station, it shares space in the train shed with tracks used by VIA and is right beside the CN transcontinental mainline.

Although Winnipeg would not exist if it wasn’t for the railway, the Winnipeg Railway Museum doesn’t rank very high on the list of funding priorities for the provincial, municipal or federal governments. It is dependent on individual and corporate donations and private foundations to keep going—and on the dedicated work of volunteers.

If there was more funding, it could complete the restoration of more rolling stock, re-do the interior, and add better heating and cooling to the train shed. It might even be able to bring indoors some locomotives currently languishing outside in various parts of the city.

That said, the museum’s volunteers have done a great job—as you can see by the photos on this page.

The prize of the collection—the Countess of Dufferin, the first steam locomotive in Western Canada. (Arrived in Winnipeg Oct. 8, 1877.)

CNR 1900 (GMD1), built in 1958. It was the first of a series of passenger locomotives equipped with a steam generator. It’s stored serviceable.

Winnipeg Hydro #4. Built in October, 1927 by the Davenport Locomotive Works. It was used for freight and passenger service.

CP Rail Track inspection car M300 was built in Great Britain; it’s one of only five ever imported to Canada from that country.

City of Winnipeg track inspection car. This 1946 Packard was rebuilt by the CPR to run on rails. It was purchased by the Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway in 1953 for use on the that Railway’s line serving Winnipeg's water aqueduct between the Shoal Lake inlet and the city of Winnipeg.

This Mac B-1 Railbus was built in 1922 by the Mack International Motor Company of Allentown, Pa. for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Purchased by Winnipeg Hydro in 1929, it ran in regular service until 1962 from Pointe du Bois to Lac du Bonnet carrying freight, mail and passengers.

CNR #7188 is a combination car (passenger/baggage). It was built in 1919 as a Colonist passenger car and rebuilt into a combination car in 1955. It was retired in 1977.

Wide vision van (caboose in the U.S.).

CN Jordan spreader, built in 1911.

Nearby at The Forks, some other equipment is on display; the passenger cars house a candy store. These items do not belong to the museum.

Finally, the Manitoba Children's Museum, also at The Forks, is home to a CNR F unit. If you're nice, they may let you in to look at it without charge. Or you can pay the entrance fee and be a big kid in the cab, if you want!

Click here for more info about the Winnipeg Railway Museum.

More Layout Progress

2011-12-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

Time off during the Christmas break is allowing me to make substantial progress on the new one-level middle penninsula--see photos above and below.

Right now I am cutting Styrofoam to fit, cutting support pieces to hold it, and adjusting the longer 2 by 8 pieces for the slight grade up into the storage room and helix.

It's much too early for track laying, but I couldn't help myself; I needed to see what it would look like to have a bit of track down.

New Locomotive from Rapido Trains: The Unique GMD-1

2011-12-26T12:01:00.000-08:00

In keeping with his commitment to producing unique Canadian locomotives and rolling stock, Jason Shron and the Rapido Trains crew are bringing out one of the most unique Canadian locomotives--the GMD-1.

Produced by General Motors Diesel (GMD) from 1958 to 1960, the GMD-1 was created to handle trains on light rail branchlines in Canada's prairie provinces. Of the 101 units produced, 96 went to Canadian National Railway and five went to Northern Alberta Railways.

Over time, units migrated east and west for use as switchers in yards and in other duties. Today a few can be found in the U.S. in shortline railroad service.

The new GMD-1 model is the latest in a series of new Canadian offerings from several manufacturers. It's quite a change from when I started back in the hobby in 1987. Back then, there wasn't very much available for Canadian model railroaders; today, we are almost overwhelmed by the fine array of models available to us. It truly is a golden age for those of us north of the 49th parallel!

Now if we could just get Atlas to make a CP Rail SD40-2, my life would be complete . . . .

You can learn more about the GMD-1 on the CN Lines website.

You can view the unique way Jason chose to unveil this new product by clicking here.

Photo from CN Lines.

More Pierre Dion Quebec Subdivision Photos

2011-12-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

I have some more photos of Pierre Dion's great Canadian model railroad; find them below, as a Christmas present on this Christmas Eve.

Click here for more photos of Pierre's layout, along with info about his newest venture.

Layout Progress

2011-12-23T19:34:00.000-08:00

The reconstruction of the middle penninsula is slowly moving along. Bascially, what I'm doing is taking the Styrofoam subroadbed from the former upper level and putting it on the new lower level (as in the photo above). You can see the outline of the old tracks.

At this point, the pieces are just being test-fitted together; I'll glue and screw them to the benchwork later.

At this point, I don't know exactly what kind of scenery I will employ in this new section. At one time I thought it would just be hills and trees; now I'm thinking it could be a good place for some grain elevators that currently don't have a home. We'll see where it goes.

Christmas at Winnipeg's Assiniboine Valley Railway

2011-12-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

One of the great Christmas traditions in Winnipeg is the annual Assiniboine Valley Railway Christmas train ride.

The AVR is 1.6" scale 7.5" gauge riding railway located in the backyard of local Winnipeg Model Railroad Club member Bill Taylor—if you can call a seven acre site a backyard.

Started in 1995, the AVR has a 3,700 foot long mainline, and about 6,400 feet of track altogether. There are three diesel locomotives, one box cab and several steamers, plus 39 cars.

Each Christmas Bill puts on a light show, with over 100,000 lights illuminating the line, along with nativity scenes, angels, stars, snowmen, candy canes and more.

The train rides are available every evening in December, with the exception of Dec. 25. Between 10,000 to 13,000 people come out each year to ride the trains. Donation boxes are set up around the area to raise money for local charities.

Not being much of an outdoor winter person, I prefer to ride the AVR in summer. Click here to see a video of a ride along the line, and click here for a summer photo visit.

Great Canadian Model Railroads: Pierre Dion's CP Rail Quebec Subdivision

2011-12-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

For me, it was like the quest for the Holy Grail: Could I get photos of Pierre Dion’s magnificent CP Rail Quebec Subdivision, and post them on my blog?

The answer, as you see, is yes. A couple of weeks ago I was able to track Pierre down.; in addition to receiving permission to scan and post some photos of his layout from the November, 2004, Railroad Model Craftsman, he sent me some other photos, too.

And now, for what I think is the first time on the Web, you can see them again (or for the first time), too.

Like the CP Rail M & M Sub., the HO scale Quebec Sub. was set in that other transition period—the late 1980s-early1990s. This was the time just before CP Rail started to sell and or abandon its lines in Quebec.

Also during that period, CP Rail was still using MLW units, like the RS-18u, c-424u, Rs-23, C-630M, M-630 and M-636—units featured on Pierre’s layout, most of them detailed and weathered.

The layout itself was in a 17 by 21 foot room, and featured a double track mainline through generic scenery. But, oh—what scenery it was! “Lush” is the word that most often comes to my mind, along with extremely realistic. Pierre has a knack for creating believable ground cover, ballast and trees, along with buildings and various line side and other details.

I have been speaking of the layout in the past tense; it’s gone now, being replaced by a bigger layout. This time Pierre has a 24 by 25 foot room to work his magic in, plus a 9 by 12 foot room for staging.

The new shelf-style layout will have a 150 foot mainline, and will once again focus on CP Rail in the Montreal area and eastern Quebec in the late 1980s-early 1990s—with the same roster of unique units pulling their last miles. And, just like with his first layout, it will also be called the Quebec Subdivision.

We hope to feature Pierre’s newest effort in an upcoming issue of Canadian Railway Modeller.

Meantime, here are some more classic shots of Pierre's layout from Railroad Model Craftsman.

What do Chinese Workers Think of Model Trains?

2011-12-15T17:07:00.000-08:00

Chinese workers working on Rapido model trains.

I was looking at the above photo of Chinese workers making model trains in the latest Rapido Trains News when I thought: “What do they think about this hobby, anyway? Do they think it strange that people devote time and money to model trains?”

(Mind you, I’ve often had the same thought wandering through most any store, looking at the trinkets. toys and doodads on the shelf, wondering what some poor worker in Bangladesh, Vietnam or India thinks about the kind of people who buy that stuff. But I digress.)

So I sent a note to Jason Shron of Rapido, who forwarded it to Bill Schneider, who is supervising work on Rapido’s models in China. Here’s what Bill wrote back to me.

“Coming from a U.S. production background (Bill used to work for Branchline Trains), I can honestly say that for most of them their reaction is likely to be exactly the same as the U.S. workforce. That is, for most employees on both sides of the Pacific it is just a job, and while they do it to the best of their ability, they really do not understand the passion behind it.”

Production line at the Rapido factory.

Recalling his days at Branchline Trains, Bill says that “at one point we had 25 or so people in the production department, another 15-20 in the distribution warehouse, 4-5 in the office and about 6 sales people. There were only two modelers in the entire group, and I was the only one doing model trains (the other was into cars and sci-fi stuff). This really is not an unusual situation.”

In fact, he says, “many times I was asked by employees what people did with this stuff and would end up dragging out copies of MR or the like. The reaction went from ‘Wow, that’s neat!’ to ‘Really? Don’t they have a life?’ It’s about what you’d expect in any random group.”

One of Bill’s favorite memories is when a printing supervisor said, after seeing a beautifully weathered version of one of their kits: “IF they’re going to do THAT to them, then why do we get so fussy on the lettering?”

At the end of the day, Bill concludes, “from the business end you want to hire people that can do the job properly, not necessarily folks to invite over for an ops session on Friday night.”

Plus, he adds, it might be easier not having modelers on the workforce. “Having spent many hours developing a product, it would be frustrating to have all of your assembly people questioning whether you have the right horn location for unit 1234 in 1965!”

That said, it's important for those of us who are fortunate enough to have the money, time, space and leisure to pursue this hobby to remember how incredibly lucky we are. As someone who has travelled in the developing world, I know that most people in the world don't have time for a hobby; working just to earn enough to eat is the main priority.

And when we complain about jobs in model railroad manufacturing moving offshore, we can at least know we are providing much-needed employment for someone, even if it is in China--and even if they don't understand what we find so fascinating about model trains.

Wonder what he thinks of this hobby?

Another Magazine Closes: Goodbye Model Railroad News

2011-12-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

When he started Model Railroad News nearly 17 years ago, editor Michael Lindsay had a vision of creating a one-stop resource that would “provide quality news and content to help modelers of all scales and backgrounds make the most informed decisions they could prior to plopping their hard-earned hobby dollars on the hobby shelf.”

For many years, that vision was realized. Then this thing called the Internet took off, and publishing hasn’t been the same since.

This month, Model Railroad News ceased publication. In a note on the magazine’s website, Lindsay cited the various reasons for the closure: A down economy, declining circulation and rising costs.

As a reader on model railroad forum pointed out, it was pretty hard for a bi-monthly magazine to stay current with new releases—by the time Model Railroad News had published a review of a new item it had probably been dissected up and down and sideways on various Internet forums. (Maybe not always thoughtfully, but that’s beside the point.)

Plus, with more and more items being released in limited runs, what’s the point of a review? By the time the review was published, there was nothing left to buy, anyway.

These changing times of ours have brought many new and exciting opportunities, but also more than a few casualties. Model Railroad News was one of them.

So, goodbye Model Railroad News. And all the best to the few multi-scale, general purpose model railroad magazines left standing: Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman (which just released its first digital issue) and Canadian Railway Modeller.

TomSka's YouTube Video, I Like Trains (or, how you, too, can enjoy minimalist non-sequitur comedy on YouTube)

2011-12-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Not only am I older, I am decidedly uncool. Which is why I hadn’t heard about Tom “Ska” Ridgewell, aka TomSka, before.

TomSka is a twenty-something YouTube filmmaker, best known for his asdf movies. (Pronounced “ass-duff.”) According to one writer, the movies consist of short scenes featuring various stick-figure characters with one-liners, mostly depicting random and absurd scenarios like throwing cheese at a flying saucer.

(In case you’re wondering who would ever watch something like that, to date TomSka’s videos have been viewed over 139 million times.)

One of the characters in TomSka’s short animated cartoons is a boy who is prone to exclaiming the catchphrase “I like trains,” whereupon he or another character is run over by one. The popularity of the I Like Trains character prompted TomSka to create a short movie featuring the boy. Appropriately, it’s titled: I Like Trains.

I Like Trains has already been viewed over 5.5 million times. (I’m guessing they aren’t all model railroaders.)

You may not like the I Like Trains movie, or the premise, but the song is catchy for those of us who, like the boy in the cartoon, like trains.

In case you’re wondering about the meaning behind TomSka’s videos, here’s what he said about them: “They are super minimalist non-sequitur comedy, jokes that don’t make any sense, in and out in about three seconds, tailored to appeal to that YouTube mentality.”

Now you know.

Click here to listen to the song.

3D Printing: The Future of Model Railroading?

2011-12-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

This HO scale passenger car was printed in a 3D printer.

I have seen the future of model railroading, and it is 3D printing. Well, it’s one aspect of the hobby’s future, at least.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept—as I was until my new friend, Jeff, a 3D printing jewelry designer explained it to me—3D printing is a way to design objects on a computer, send the design to a company with a 3D printer, then have that company print the object and mail it to you.

Need a pilot for your steam locomotive? 3D print it!

Through 3D printing (also called rapid prototyping), modelers can make unique items that are unavailable as commercial products—a CN style wheel stop, a 1950s-style oil drum, or detail parts like horns, handrails, bells, domes, windows, etc.

Need a dumpster on your layout? Print it!

How does it work? It’s a mystery to me, but Jeff tells me that it’s an additive manufacturing technology where three dimensional objects are created by laying down successive layers of material. These materials can be plastic, ceramics, glass or stainless steel.

You can even make buildings, like this
Z scale engine house.

Items are available in a variety of scales, from T to HO. The larger an object is, the more expensive it is, since it requires more material and time to make it.

For the smaller scales, like T, Z and N, 3D printing can make complete models—rolling stock, locomotives and buildings. For larger scales, it seems best suited for detail parts like fire hydrants, garbage cans and the like.

Or maybe you need a shopping cart . . .

Of course, you need considerable computer design skills to make these items—or just need to be under the age of 30, since youth today seemingly can figure out almost any new technology (unlike old guys like me).

Luckily, lots of these smarter and younger people will make 3D printable items for you—all you need to do is send them a photo of what you want, and they will design and print it. Once designed, it can then be sold to others who might also need that particular item, allowing you to pay off the cost of making it, and maybe even make a few bucks.

How about a garbage can?

Speaking of costs, 3D printing isn’t cheap. On the other hand, it is a lot less expensive than the traditional injection molded manufacturing process, which requires a considerable up-front investment of thousands of dollars, along with the need to make hundreds or thousands of parts to recoup your investment.

Jeff tells me that, just like with other technologies, the cost will go down. Who knows? Maybe one day there will be no more limited production runs, with the need to buy now or lose. If you want a GP9 that is accurate for your prototype, with all the louvres and doors and fuel tanks in the right place, you can just order one of them and have it delivered to your door.

This 3D printed cart is really cool.

One of the leaders in the world of 3D printing is Shapeways. If you go to their website, and search for “model railroad,” you will find dozens of pages offering items (such as pictured in this post.)

With 3D printing you can turn this . . .

Into this.

My friend Jeff tells me that, one day, we all might have 3D printers in our homes—an outlandish thought, until you remember that it wasn’t so long ago that the idea of everyone having a personal computer was crazy, too.

A design for a Z scale car.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what The Economist magazine said in the Feb. 10, 2011 issue:

“Three-dimensional printing makes it as cheap to create single items as it is to produce thousands and thus undermines economies of scale. It may have as profound an impact on the world as the coming of the factory did . . . just as nobody could have predicted the impact of the steam engine in 1750—or the printing press in 1450, or the transistor in 1950—it is impossible to foresee the long-term impact of 3D printing. But the technology is coming, and it is likely to disrupt every field it touches.”

Including model railroading.

Appropriately, a 3D printed Nn3 caboose
brings this post to an end.

Hardest Kits to Put Together

2011-12-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

InterMountain cylindrical hopper car kit: Hard
to put together (for me, at least).

There was a time, not so long ago, when model railroad rolling stock—and most locomotives—came as kits.

In most cases, there really wasn’t much to do; for cars, you just had to attach the floor and body, screw on the wheel sets, add the couplers and maybe the brake wheels. For some locomotives (e.g. Athearn Blue Box and Kato), you had to add the handrails and details.

And then there were the real kits, not just shake-the-box. These were kits where parts had to be cut from sprues, flash scraped off plastic, and things glued together.

Some kits were easy to put together; some drove you crazy.

There’s a discussion going on at the Atlas HO forum about the hardest kits to put together. A number are mentioned, but two keep popping up: Front Range/McKean center beam bulkhead flat cars and Intermountain cylindrical hoppers.

A McKean center beam car: Another
hard-to-put-together kit.

I have built both. Well, that’s not exactly true. I built a cylindrical hopper, then swore I’d never build another. I never finished the McKean center beam bulkhead flat.

The Intermountain car was just plain hard to make—lots of delicate, finicky parts. I don’t have big fingers, but I found it very hard to attach the pieces. After spending hours making the car, I calculated my time at an average hourly wage and concluded that, even at between $35 to $40 per car (Canadian), buying them all put together and ready-to-run was worth it.

(In fact, I almost never paid that much for the many cylindrical hoppers on the M & M Sub.; they could often be found on sale, or for much less used at train shows.)

As for the McKean car—well, that’s the only kit that has ever defeated me. I tried to put it together. Really, I did. But it resisted every effort. Parts were warped. Parts didn’t fit. Holes were too small, pegs were too big.

I repeatedly put it aside, thinking that one day I’d come back to it and finish it. It never happened. So, one notable day, I threw it in the garbage. I immediately felt better.

So: What’s the hardest kit you’ve ever put together?

Digital Railroad Model Craftsman Available

2011-12-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

Railroad Model Craftsman has gone digital. They are offering a free preview of the digital version of the December issue; click here to see it.

Personally, I prefer paper. Then again, I'm older; I remember a time before computers.

Plus, my paper copy never shuts down and needs to be recovered, as happened when I browsed the December issue online. (Or wait for a page to load, for that matter.)

I also don't think this is great for advertisers. It's way too easy to click past the ad pages. You can do that in paper, too, but you might linger a little longer on an image or text. This is like having TV remote in your hands--get me to the articles!

But it is the way of the future; one day kids will say: "Tell me again how they used to print things on dead trees."

More Progress on the M & M Sub.

2011-11-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

Slowly, it's coming along. The basic benchwork is almost completed. Next up: Installing cross pieces to support the two-inch Styrofoam (which will provide the subroadbed). I put the turnback piece of Styrofoam on top of the benchwork just to see how it would fit; it originally was the upper level loop, so it's in the same location as before--just lower.

In addition to providing a place for the trains, the benchwork provides an additional 32 feet of shelf space for the family's stuff; it's amazing how things accumulate!

The goal remains running trains on the new area by Christmas; we'll see if that happens.

Great Canadian Model Railroad: The Lyon Valley Northern

2011-11-24T18:50:00.000-08:00

Here's another great Canadian model railroad: The Lyon Valley Northern.

The freelance layout depicts a post-2000 bridge line shared by CN and BNSF between Shelby, Montana and Edmonton, Alberta. The 25 by 26 foot HO scale layout features unit trains, mixed freights and passenger service.

Scenery on the layout is complete; the backdrops were painted by Chris. Operations require five two-person crews to operate the layout.

Plans are to feature Chris’ layout in a future issue of Canadian Railway Modeller, complete with more photos and information.

Chris has a blog about his layout; click here to visit it.

More Benchwork Progress on the M & M Sub.

2011-11-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

The new benchwork is coming along . . .

One good thing about doing benchwork is that progress is easy to see; one day there's nothing there, the next day, there's something--and sometimes, lots of it. This is in contrast to doing scenery, where progress can be measured in inches or a few feet of grass, trees or other items.

My benchwork is nothing to write home about, or maybe even post on a blog. It's just a means to an end, the end being running trains. That said, my benchwork isn't intended to win any contests. It's purely utilitarian--it's basically just shelves with trains on top.

(I don't understand modellers who carefully cantilever their benchwork off the wall, in an effort to keep the space beneath the trains clean and unobstructed. Where do they put all their stuff?)

While building my new benchwork, I once again discovered the essential truth all lone-wolf modellers know: Clamps are your best friend. How else could you keep pieces of wood in place with only two hands?

Speaking of progress, there's been some on other fronts, too; this blog passed 125,000 views last week, and my YouTube channel, which contains videos of the layout, along with videos of other layouts and the prototype, passed 250,000 views.

My goal is to have some trains running on the new section by the New Year; we'll see if that happens. But there's no rush; I've been working on this layout since 1994, so there's lots of time to get things done.

Getting (re)Started in Model Railroading

2011-11-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

Those who have followed this blog for a while know that, for some time, the CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. has been finished.

(I know, I know--a model railroad is never "finished." But the M & M Sub. was done, as far as I was concerned--there were no more tracks to be laid and no more scenery to complete.)

So, what did I do? I tore down the middle penninsula, with the idea of starting something new in its place.

The big tear-down happened about eleven months ago. I thought I might get started on the new section in spring, but that didn't happen. All too soon, summer and fall came and went.

The first piece of wood is added.

It wasn't just a matter of being busy--although I was. It was also a matter of energy; for some reason, I just found it hard to go down into the train room to start building again.

This was a new feeling for me. For both of my layouts (The CP Rail Grimm Valley Sub., from 1987-94, and the present layout, started in 1994), building benchwork, laying track or making scenery was never a problem--I couldn't wait to do it.

But this time it was different. I don't know why, exactly--maybe because I'm older, or perhaps because I've done it all before. Whatever it was, I developed a new appreciation for those who want to build a layout, but never have--getting started can be hard.

But all that changed last week. I finally got downstairs and started the new benchwork; the photos show my progress after a couple of hours. It felt good!

As with the other parts of the layout, I'm basically building shelves for stuff with trains on top. The bottom shelf is in; the next level will be added soon. Unlike before, this time the penninsula will only be about two feet wide, to accomodate my new office. It will also only be one level, to make the room feel bigger.

All told, the new construction will add about 35 feet of mainline track, and give me something to do during the coming winter. (An important consideration up here in Canada!)

Now I have a different problem, though: I don't want to rush it! I'd like to let it linger, so that I don't once again run out of something to do.

Great Canadian Layouts: Bob Winterton's Superior Northern

2011-11-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

Bob Winterton’s HO scale Superior Northern—the Route of the Moose—is another great Canadian Model Railroad.

Actually, Bob's layout was two great Canadian layouts in one. For many years the Winterton basement was home not just to the Superior Northern, but also to son Peter's CP Rail Heron Bay Subdivision; more about that below.

The Superior Northern Railway (SNR) is a fictitious Northern Ontario shortline set in the transition era. It runs north of Terrace Bay from a connection with the CPR transcontinental mainline, serving ten industries along the way.

Originally, the CPR line existed only to serve the SNR. It entered the scene at Terrace Bay (formerly Nipigon) and was staged east and west in hidden tracks. It was expanded as a result of the demands of an operating group, which rotated between local layouts once a week.

Bob extended the CPR mainline around the 12 by 38 foot room, including a connection with the Heron Bay Subdivision, the 1977-era CP Rail layout built by Peter in a separate 9 by 12 foot room. The two layouts were connected by a unique snow scene in room between the two; see below.

This arrangement led to unique dual-era operations, with switches made between 1952 and 1977. Although the two eras were 25 years apart, no effort was made to change structures while switching between the two—only the motive power and rolling stock was changed.

(I speak of the Heron Bay Sub. in the past tense; Peter has moved into a house of his own now, where he is building a new version of the Heron Bay Sub. Bob has back-dated the old 1970s-era layout to his 1950s time frame.)

Bob operates the layout by schedule, without a fast clock. Trains and train numbers on the CPR line are typical of the era modeled, with notable trains such as The Dominion and The Canadian.

Bob’s layout has appeared in the model railroad press a number of times: August, 1978, May, 1983, March, 1991 and June, 2002 Railroad Model Craftsman; as well as in Canadian Railway Modeller and the NMRA Bulletin. Peter’s original Heron Bay Sub. was featured in Great Model Railroads, 1992, when he was just 16 years old.

Photos from Peter's Heron Bay Subdivision.

Model Railroader Survey Results

2011-11-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

The M & M Sub. is the most popular scale,
but not the most popular era.

The latest Model Railroader survey is out. A few highlights:

The transition era (1946-60) is still the most popular modelling era for the magazine's readers (62 percent), followed by those who model 1961-71 and 1972-89.

HO is the most popular scale (84 percent), followed by N (24 percent), O, large scale, S and Z.

Almost half now use DCC to operate their layouts, while 41 percent say they intend to convert to it in the near future.

Readers say they own an average of 36 locomotives.

Most readers (45 percent) say they are protoype freelancers, 43 percent are freelancers, and 11 percent are strict prototype modellers.

The results mirror a survey taken a few years ago here in Canada, which also found that the transition era was the most popular for Canadian modellers. As with the Model Railroader survey, HO is the most popular scale in Canada, followed by N, O and S.

So: Where does that put me? Since I model the early 1990s, I'm out of step with most modellers. (Although I like to argue that my time period is also a transition era--from older second generation power, like SD40-2s and SD60s, to the more modern SD70s, 80s and 90s and others.)

I am in step when it comes to scale. (I like N scale, but it still seems too small for me.)

Like many other modellers, I'm a prototype freelancer, and the number of locomotives is about right.

When it comes to contol, I'm seriously (and maybe hopelessly) behind--the CP Rail M & M Sub. is still plain old DC, with no plans to change.

How does the survey match up with your experience?

Is It Real, Or Is It . . . .

2011-11-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Is it real, or is it tilt shift?

In this case, it’s tilt shift—a photographic technique that is used to create special effects when taking a photo. During tilt shift photography, the camera lens is shifted and tilted at different angles to change the focus of the picture in unusual ways.

The real photo.

In particular, tilt shift photography can make real-life scenes look like miniatures, or models.

The photos on this page were made using TiltShiftMaker, a website that lets you upload a real photo and change it into one that looks like a model. Photos taken from above the subject yield the best results.

TiltShiftMaker lets you transform existing digital photos into cool miniature-style pictures, as on this page.

Tilt shift does amazing things with aerial shots.
This is downtown Winnipeg.

A shout-out to Confessions of a Train Geek, where I first learned about Tilt Shift.

Great Canadian Layouts: Patrick Lawson's CP Rail Cascade Subdivision

2011-10-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

When I first saw Patrick Lawson’s CP Rail Cascade Subdivision in model railroad magazines, I was awestruck.

The HO scale layout, which was set in B.C.’s Fraser River Canyon and Mission Junction, was complete in almost every way—scenery, structures, locomotives, rolling stock. One look and you knew he had captured the essence of modern railroading in that locale.

The double-deck layout, which was set in 1990, filled a 16 by 14 foot room. It featured lots of CP Rail’s ubiquitous SD40-2 units (including a kitbashed SD40-2F Red Barn), vans (the Canadian term for cabooses) and modern unit grain and coal trains.

That alone made the layout great, but what made the Cascade Sub. stand out was the details—drains in parking lots, drainage ditches and culverts alongside raised track bed, and proper handrails at the front and rear of Canadian locomotives.

As it turns out, the Cascade Sub. was one of three layouts built by Patrick. His first effort was the freelanced Northern Railroad. He then turned his attention to modeling CP Rail, first building a shelf-style layout before creating the Cascade Sub.

The layout featured code 70 Shinohara track and number six and eight turnouts. Train lengths were about 20 cars, plus three locomotives. Trains were operated with walkaround throttles.

Since Patrick built the layout in the 1990s, he had to build all of his unique Canadian Teoli coal cars from kits—no ready-to-run Intermountain cars were available back then!

The Cascade Sub. is gone now—Patrick dismantled it about ten years ago. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t still modeling; he built a model of the Point Ellice Ferry Slip for the Maritime Museum of Victoria, B.C. (see photos below) and is currently building models for the Revelstoke Railway Museum's model railway club.

Patrick also works with Jason Shron of Rapido Trains on the drawings for The Canadian and other models, such as the CP & CN wide vision cabooses, and the CN & CP FP9s.

Like most layouts built in the previous century, no digital photos were taken (that technology not being available then), and Patrick hasn't gotten around to scanning his prints or slides. Hence, a search for images of the Cascade Sub. on the Web turns up nothing—until now. With Patrick’s permission, I have scanned photos from Railroad Model Craftsman (June, 1989, Dec., 1991, Nov., 1992) and Great Model Railroads (2002).
Enjoy!

Patrick's modelling on a friend's layout.

Ever Wonder What Your Layout Would Be Like If It Came Alive?

2011-10-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

What if they really could move?

Ever wonder what your layout would be like if it could come alive?

What it would be like if those little plastic people, and the cars and trucks, could actually move?

Click here to watch the first minute or so of this video--made as a sponsor reel for the Association of Independent Commercial Producers for their 2011 conference--and wonder no more!

(The rest of the video is OK, but not as interesting to model railroaders as the first 1:21.)

New Rapido Trains Locomotive Announced

2011-10-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Rapido Trains has announced its newest locomotives—the FP4A and the FP4B.

Only 34 FPA4 and 12 FPB4 units were ever built, and only for CN—it was the only customer. The units were transferred to VIA Rail in 1978 and retired in 1988-89. Numerous tourist lines, such as the Napa Valley Wine Train and the Grand Canyon Railway, have preserved these unique locomotives in service.

Rapido’s commitment to accuracy is legendary, but owner Jason Shron has taken it to a new level; the nose contour of this newest unit will be accurately rendered in model form through a 3D scanning process of a real FPA4 unit—#6765 at Exporail, Canada's national railway museum in Montreal, Quebec.

The units are expected to be avaialable in 2013. Click here for more information.

Ontario & Eastern Update: The Ontario & Quebec

2011-10-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

As noted in the previous post, the much-lauded Ontario & Eastern was sold or divided among former members when the group that built it disbanded. One former member who took a few sections home was Tony Van Klink, who incorporated former sections of the O & E into a home layout and a portable layout he takes to shows.

Below find a few photos of Tony's beautiful layout, photographed at the Brampton, Ont. Train Show in early October; I hope to have an article about it in a future issue of Canadian Railway Modeller.

Compare this to the same scene on the O & E.

Staging yard behind the layout.

Great Canadian Model Railroad: The Ontario & Eastern

2011-10-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Maple Leaf 2003 is remembered, unfortunately, as the SARS convention—the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Toronto caused the cancellation or curtailment of many conventions, including that year’s NMRA National Train Show. (Local modellers created their own very fine replacement.)

But that’s not all I remember of that convention; for me, an outstanding memory is seeing the Ontario & Eastern for the first, and only, time.

The layout was right across from the Canadian Railway Modeller display table, so I had lots of opportunities to watch it in action. And what a layout it was!

The HO scale Ontario & Eastern was pretty much the first sectional layout I had ever seen, and it left quite an impression on me.

By sectional, I mean it was unlike most modular layouts—layouts that can be put together in any configuration. The Ontario & Eastern, on the other hand, was designed to fit together only one way in order to preserve continuity of scenes.

But that wasn’t the only thing that impressed me. I was also struck by the level of detail.It really made you feel like you had gone back to Ontario in the 1950s.

Construction of the O & E started in 1987. The 16 by 20 portable layout built by a small group of friends to display typical southern Ontario scenes and railway operations from the 1949 to 1959 time period. The layout sections were individually owned by Rich Chrysler, Brian Dickey, Jim Ellis, John Mellow, John Spring and Tony Van Klink.

Their goal was to bring a high standard of modelling to a show layout—a goal they more than achieved.

Public showings of the layout started in 1990, with the last showing of the entire display taking place in February, 2005. The layout was featured in the February, 1998 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman.

After the group disbanded, the sections went back home with their original owners or were sold. One former member, Tony Van Klink, incorporated some sections into a home layout, and also into a portable layout, called the Ontario & Quebec. He brings the portable layout to shows in southern Ontario; I was fortunate to find him displaying it at the Brampton Train Show in October.

Tony Van Klink with his O & Q.

The Ontario & Eastern is gone now, but I’m sure you’ll agree it was a Great Canadian Model Railroad. And now, for the first time, photos of it can be found on the Web.

Thanks to Brian Dickey for information about the layout, and to Godfrey Hall for some photos. Other photos (and layout plan) from RMC, or by me at the Brampton Train Show. Enjoy!

Putting on those @#$%&$!! Kadee coupler springs

2011-10-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

HO modellers know only too well the frustration that occurs when you have to try to replace a spring on a Kadee coupler.

Not only are those tiny little springs hard to put on--they sure can fly a long way when they spring off the coupler. And forget ever finding them. Impossible!

One way to avoid seeing them fly off into space during replacement is to use a trick I learned from my friend Ron Einerson. When he has to replace a spring, he first puts a dab of white glue on the pin on the shank of the coupler, then puts on the spring. He lets the glue harden, then slips the other end over the pin on the knuckle.

When that's done, he puts another dab of glue on the other end, and lets it set. Voila! No more lost or flying springs.

Of course, the trick is to only use a little bit of glue, and to be careful not to get any on the coupler itself.

Now excuse me while I see if I can find that missing spring . . . .

Holy Helices!

2011-10-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

The CP Rail M & M Sub. has one helix. My brother-in-law's former layout, the Cougar River Subdivision, had two. There may be a layout or two out there with three. But ten?

That's what the Waterloo (Ont.) Region Model Railroad Club has on its layout--or will, when the layout is completed.

The seven-level layout (that's right--seven levels) is connected by a series of helices taking trains up and down the layout. It's an incredible sight.

The mushroom-style model railroad, which represents CP Rail in the Sudbury, Ontario area in the 1970s, is under construction in a 40 by 50 foot quonset hut in Maryhill, just outside Kitchener-Waterloo.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say club members aren't constructing a layout--they are building a building inside a building, and the building they are building just happens to support a model railroad.

I had a chance to visit the club again recently, and took a few photos of progress to date. Simply put, it's amazing!

You can get more information about the Club on its website, including layout diagrams and photos. There's also a link to the Club's Yahoo! forum and YouTube videos. Prepare to be amazed!

A finished scene on the layout.

Good Times, And Sad, at the Annual Winnipeg Train Show

2011-10-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

The annual Winnipeg Model Railroad Club train show was this weekend. As usual, it was a great time--a good mix of layouts, displays and sales tables. It's always fun to watch the kids watch the trains, and watch buyers get bargains. I even bought a couple things myself.

But mixed with the good times was some sadness. One local hobby shop had three tables of consignment items that belonged to someone who recently passed away. Like many, he collected lots of model railroad stuff for that layout he was going to build "someday." Unfortunately, that day never came.

Stuff intended for that "someday" layout.

Also on sale was a large amount of stuff belonging to a local modeller who, due to health reasons, needed to move into assisted living. He had to give up his layout. A friend and his son were selling his extensive collection. He came to the show for a short time, but left early--it was just too hard to watch his stuff be sold.

Other sellers had their own stories. One was moving from a house to an apartment, so his stuff had to go--that "someday" layout never happened. Others were thinning their collections; those locomotives and freight cars that once looked so cool now were just taking up space. Out they went!

Just another typical train show, in other words, repeated across Canada and the U.S. almost every weekend.

More of a Great Canadian Layout: The Central Northern Subdivision

2011-10-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Back in April I posted a short note about George Myer's Central Northern Subdivision. In it I noted that his layout would be featured in an upcoming issue of Canadian Railway Modeller.

That issue has been out for a while now, so I thought I'd share a few more photos from George's fantastic layout.

By way of reminder, the Central Northern Subdivision is a two-rail O scale layout in George's 22 by 20 foot basement. Set in the late 1960s to early 1970s, it finds CPR trains traveling though fictitious towns and scenes in southeastern B.C.

Seventy-five percent of the track handlaid, using code 148 on the main, code 125 in the yard and code 100 in lightly used industry and spur tracks. The ties are hand cut and stained.

In addition to handlaying the track, George also scratchbuilt all 33 turnouts and one diamond on the layout. Most of the switches are number sixes, and all are hand-thrown.

For scenery, George uses Styrofoam to make his landforms. He then puts drywall compound over it—he likes the way it cracks realistically as it dries and produces a rock-like texture. He then paints the scenery with acrylic paints.

To hide the benchwork, George uses landscape fabric for curtains. The effect is great, although he now wishes he had used a heavier grade so it would hang better.

Operations are also enhanced by a two-track staging yard behind a hill at the back of the layout. At the start of a “day,” three trains are staged and ready to go—two in hidden staging, and one on the layout.

What’s remarkable about this gorgeous layout is that George is legally blind—but he didn’t let them slow him down. He’s built a better layout with partial sight than many of us can do with 20/20 vision.

Click here to go to my Picasa Web album see more photos of the Central Northern Subdivision; you'll be glad you did!

George in his layout room.

Big Day in Manitoba Railway History: The Countess of Dufferin Arrives

2011-10-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

The Countess of Dufferin

Tomorrow, Oct, 9, is a big day for Winnipeggers. That's when the re-born Winnipeg Jets play their first game after 15 years absence.

Oct. 8 is a big day for the city, too, though not many people know it. 134 years ago today, in 1877, the Countess of Dufferin arrived in Winnipeg. Without it, and without the railway, there would be no Winnipeg as we know it today, and no Winnipeg Jets, either.

Named in honour of the wife of the Governor General of Canada, the Countess was the first locomotive in western Canada.

The Countess arrives by barge.

Built in Philadelphia by Baldwin in 1872, the 4-4-0 arrived by barge up the Red River from the U.S.

Before coming to Manitoba, it was owned by the Northern Pacific, working in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Its first job in Canada was to help build a new line from Winnipeg to the U.S. border (the Pembina branch). It then worked from Winnipeg to Ontario and then to B.C. before being purchased by the Columbia River Lumber Company in the mid-1880s. It was used to power a sawmill until 1909, when it was donated to the city of Winnipeg.

On display in front of the CPR station. Who decided to
turn it into a large planter?

It was on display in two outdoor locations for many years (in front of the CPR station and later at the corner of Main St. and Disraeli). Today it is restored and housed inside the Winnipeg Railway Museum, located at the VIA station (formerly the Union Station) in downtown Winnipeg.

Can Less Be More, Or When Is It Time To Stop Working On A Layout?

2011-10-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

A CPR train travels through . . . emptiness.

Some people never get started building a layout. Others don't know when to stop. At least, that's the conclusion I reached after attending a train show recently.

What prompted that line of thinking was seeing layouts at the show where every square inch (or millimetre, up here in Canada) was filled with track, buildings, bridges, vehicles, more track, more buildings, more bridges, more . . . you get the picture.

These layouts were so busy that they were almost unviewable. You didn't know where to look. It almost hurt your head.

I understand how this happens, especially when modular layouts are concerned. When someone only has 2 by 4 feet of space to fill, and lots of time to fill it with lots of stuff, it's easy to see how the module can become extremely busy.

(Not to mention modular layouts where airfields abut farm scenes that are beside skyscrapers that are next to mountain valleys . . . but I digress.)

The fact of the matter is that trains in North America travel through thousands of miles of . . . nothing. Well, not nothing, exactly, but not lots of urban and built-up areas. (Except, maybe, in parts of the urban northeast.) Their routes are defined more by what isn't there, than by what is.

But good luck trying to find layouts made for shows that feature mostly trains travelling on single tracks through forests, fields, hills and mountains. But when someone tries it, their work really stands out. We immediately know that it's different, special--more normal somehow.

Good graphic designers know that less is more. Not every inch of the page needs to be filled. I wonder if that's possible with layouts made for train shows, too?

Great Canadian Model Railroad: The Lake Erie & International

2011-10-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Business took me to London, Ont. in September. Luckily, my trip coincided with an open house at the London Model Railroad Group, owners of the two-rail O gauge Lake Erie & International.

Founded in 1935, the club has been located in present home since 1970. The layout represents a fictitious line that runs along the northern shore of Lake Erie in Canada, and from New York State to Michigan.

The building is huge—105 feet long by 40 feet wide. There is about 5,000 feet of standard gauge track on the layout, all of which has been hand laid on homemade wooden ties. The mainline is 1,200 feet long, looping around the layout five times.

A train traveling at a scale speed of 50 miles per hour will take 12 minutes to travel the full length of the mainline.

Four mainline trains can be operated at the same time. Operations are controlled by operators located in an elevated tower along the south wall of the building. A hidden storage yard can hold 10 trains.

The layout features three operating lift bridges, a trolley line (powered by overhead wire), 21 stations, and a narrow gauge railroad.

The majority of cars and engines belong to individual members. Most of the equipment dates from the early days of steam. The buildings on the layout are almost all made from scratch and belong to the club.

Of note to clubs who rent, and fear losing their space, the London Model Railroad Group owns its building. But that doesn't mean an end to problems; it has to be maintained.

The day I was there a bucket was strategically placed in an aisle to catch drips from a hole in the roof, and a blue tarp was placed over the layout to catch other unwanted moisture. The fix will costs thousands of dollars.

Click here to visit the club’s website.

Big Bang Theory, Model Trains and Aspergers and Autism

2011-09-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

Many people love Big Bang Theory, the hit show about four scientific "nerds" and their relational and other challenges.

One of the key characters is Dr. Sheldon Cooper, a unique individual whose life is dominated by rigid devotion to a byzantine set of rules and routines--a signature characteristic of Aspergers Syndrome.

That, plus an interest in trains (both model and prototype).

One of the lesser-known aspects of people with Aspergers or Autism is a fascination with trains. According to the National Autistic Society of Great Britain, a number of children with autism are attracted to trains because they like how trains are arranged in lines, how cars are connected, and the orderly and predictable nature of railways.

Thomas the Tank Engine is a special favourite for many children with autism; the friendly faces on the locomotives and cars helps them learn to express their own feelings and emotions.

(I wrote about this connection between autism and trains in 2009 on this blog; read it here.)

The show's producers deny that Sheldon has Aspergers, but they say they've been asked about it so many times they're aware of the subtext. When actor Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon, was asked the question, he told Variety that "the writers say no, he doesn't . . . [but] I can say that he couldn't display more facets of it."

(You can read an interesting article about Big Bang Theory and Aspergers and Autism in Slate Magazine.)

And now Sheldon's interest with model trains was more fully explored on Sept. 29 (see photo above). I didn't get to see the show, but comments on at least one model railroad forum seemed mostly favorable.

That said, I'm divided on whether or not Sheldon's fascination with trains helps or hurts the hobby. The fact that Sheldon is such a sympathetic character helps--he's sort of a man-child, a person who would certainly drive you crazy, but not because he is intentionally mean.

At the same time, the mention of model railroading on the show might also confirm in the minds of some that "playing with trains" is for those who are socially awkward, sort of nerdy, not completely well-adjusted.

In the end, it doesn't matter what people think--if you enjoy model railroading, all power to you. And it helps to remember that it's just a TV show. But TV, as we know, plays a pivotal role in shaping attitudes and opinions. In the end, who knows how this particular show, and this particular character, will affect the image of model railroading?

(Let's not forget that we've been down this road before; Gomez Addams used to regularly blow up his O guage model trains; read my post about it here and watch the explosion. Of course, that was a more innocent black-and-white age.)

Then again, we're better off than our friends who build and fly model airplanes. We just have to worry about a fictional character on a TV show; they have to deal with the real-world fallout from the recent attempt by Rezwan Ferdaus to fly a model airplane into the Pentagon. As one headline puts it: Model Airplanes A New Terrorist Weapon?

All things considered, I'd rather have Sheldon Cooper on my side.

Canada Central Layout Photos Posted

2011-09-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Michael Rozeboom was able to visit the Canada Central layout in Montreal recently. He posted a series of photos of the layout--which is slated to be dismantled in November--on Picasa.

Click here to see them.

100,000 Views

2011-09-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sometime at midday on Sept. 23, this blog passed 100,000 views.

Like I said when it passed 50,000 views in April, 2011, I am amazed and humbled by the attention it has received. After all, the M & M Sub. is nothing special. At best, I am workman when it comes to model railroading--not a craftsman.

What's been more invigorating, of late, is posting information and photos of other Canadian layouts--what I call Great Canadian Model Railroads. That's been fun.

Most of all, the blog gives me a creative outlet for writing. In real life, I do a lot of writing about hunger and poverty in the developing world in my role directing resources and public engagement for Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a partnership of 15 churches working together to end global hunger. The blog is a welcome diversion from writing about needs overseas.

As the leaves begin to turn, I'm looking forward to finishing up some scenery on the layout, and maybe adding a new section to replace the parts torn down last year.

In the meantime, I hope to keep on writing and posting. Thanks for taking time to read these simple musings.

Great Canadian Model Railroad: Roger Traviss' Great Eastern Railway

2011-09-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Roger Traviss’ Great Eastern Railway (GER) was another Great Canadian Model Railroad—was, because it was dismantled in 2010.

The 12 by 16 foot layout, set in southern Quebec and northern Maine in 1958, was featured in Canadian Railway Modeller, Train 13, Track 1.

In Roger’s world, the GER was owned by the CPR and CNR, running from south of Montreal to New Brunswick, with lines running to other Quebec cities. The modeled line ran south from Montreal to interchanges with the New York Central in upstate New York.

Rail was code 70, most of the buildings were kitbashed or scratchbuilt and trees were made using the “puff ball” method.

There were over 40 steam and diesel locomotives on the roster; since Roger wanted to convey the idea that the GER had an actual locomotive fleet, he purchased two of any unit, with the exception of yard engines.

Everything was weathered, and most of the diesels received some aftermarket details. Roger used regular spray paint to paint locomotives and rolling stock (both automotive and hobby brands). For weathering, he used whatever was available—diluted paint washes, eye shadow, dry brushing, make up, etc.

Due to cramped aisles, Roger operated the layout alone, using a sequence schedule. About 16 trains were operated during a session.

Roger is planning a new layout. The new GER will be based on the Allburgh Yard of the Rutland and will be housed in a new 10 x 32 foot room.

In an e-mail, Roger said that it took him about 15 years to reach the stage seen in the photos. Taking it down really wasn't a sad moment, he said, since he had felt for some time that it had reached its final development.

More photos of Roger's layout below, at http://islandnet.com/~rogertra and on Photobucket.

Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder at The Forks in Winnipeg

2011-09-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Downtown Winnipeg is home to The Forks, located at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. It's a crown jewel in the city's downtown, containing a beautiful minor league ball park (with the CN mainline curving around the grandstand), shops, a children's musuem, walking paths, outdoor stage and, soon, the new Canadian Museum of Human Rights.

Here's how it looks today.

Here's how it looked about 40-50 years ago.

I like what The Forks has become, but I sure wish I could have been around to see it when it was still a railway yard!

Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder.

Train Length on the Manitoba & Minnesota Subdivison.

2011-09-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

A 19-car train on the M & M Sub.

Earlier I wrote about how trains in Canada are becoming longer. But how long should HO scale model trains be?

As long as possible, some might say. But how long is that?

It depends on a few factors. If you are modelling a lazy branchline, short trains look fine. But if you are modelling a busy mainline, like I am, then you want trains to be as long as possible.

On the Manitoba & Minnesota Sub., the average train length is 18-20 cars—that’s as long as they can be, given the size of the sidings. It also looks right, given the room size: The longest wall is 21 feet, and a train that length pretty much fills it.

By most layout standards, that’s a pretty long train, although it’s not as long as what my brother-in-law could run on his old layout, the Cougar River Sub. On that large triple-deck layout, average train length was 25-30 cars—very impressive!

A train slips behind the trees.

One way to make a train seem longer is to make it pass behind scenery—to break up the scenes it runs through. On my layout’s upper level, I accomplish that through the use of trees, hills and an underpass.

Despite these efforts, I still have to admit that it doesn’t look quite right: In real life, two SD40-2s could pull way more than 20 cars. Once again, it’s a matter of compromise—either that, or start modeling steam in the 1950s, when trains were shorter.

Some years ago, I remember Jim Hediger of Model Railroader writing that any HO scale model train of about ten cars looks long. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that almost all non-model railroad visitors comment about the length of my trains. So maybe I’ll just go with that.

Great Canadian Model Railroad: The Port Kelsey Railway

2011-09-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

The moment I first saw Tim Warris’ Port Kelsey Railway, I knew it was a great Canadian Model railroad.

At the time, the layout wasn’t finished. (How many ever are?) But the level of detail, and the thoughtfulness that went into its creation, was evident even at that stage.

Tim—owner of Fast Tracks, the acclaimed maker of great templates for handlaid switches and other trackwork—kept a blog about the layout from 2003 until the layout was dismantled in 2006. We were able to feature it in Train 7, Track 1 of Canadian Railway Modeller. (It was also in Model Railroader.)

The layout was double deck and point-to-point. It was named for Tim’s late grandfather, W.C. Kelsey. It was set in 1936, in a “typical” North American location.

The layout began as a module in an apartment in 1992. When Tim moved into his own house, it was incorporated into the larger home layout.

Complex trackwork was always a fascination for Tim, so it’s no surprise he incorporated plenty of it into the Port Kelsey Railway. In fact, it was while building scratchbuilt turnouts on the layout that the idea for Fast Tracks was born.

Today Tim is working on the Bronx Terminal, a unique portable layout that is an excellent platform for displaying the Fast Tracks concept.

Click here to read the original blog about the Port Kelsey Railway, and click here to read about the Bronx Terminal.

Friends of BNSF Website Launched

2011-09-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

BNSF 5353 in Wenatchee, WA looks like it needs a friend.

You can be friends with people on Facebook, and now you can be friends with BNSF on the Web, too.

The railway has launched a new website dedicated to "providing exclusive content to people and advocates interested in the Class I or freight-rail transportation."

The Friends of BNSF website provides members with access to articles, documents, photos and videos, including items from the Class I’s historical archives, such as authentic maps and documents, and classic brochures and advertisements.

You can find it, and sign up, at https://www.friendsofbnsf.com. The first 10,000 to register get a free 2012 BNSF calendar.

Canada Central Layout in Model Railroader: View It One Last Time

2011-09-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

I just got my October isssue of Model Railroader, and was delighted to find an article about the Canada Central, the layout owned by the Montreal Railroad Modelers Association.

In reality, it's a memoriam, of sorts; as reported earlier on this blog, the layout will be dismantled in November. (After 38 years in the same location, the club lost its lease.)

In the meantime, buy the issue and enjoy this magnificent layout one last time.

Train Length: How Long Can They Go?

2011-09-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

This CPR train is over 4 kilometres long.

Anyone who has gone railfanning lately—or been stopped at a railway crossing—knows that trains are getting longer. But how much longer?

Up here in Canada, intermodal trains on the CPR have grown from 63 cars in 2008 to 90 cars in 2010. The railway hopes to reach a goal of 105 cars per train.

Meanwhile, CPR coal trains have grown from 124 cars in 2008 to 129 cars in 2010; the target is 152. Potash trains have grown from 124 cars to 142 cars; the target is 170 cars.

Mixed freight trains have also grown, from 86 cars to 105 cars; the target is 115 cars. Grain train length has remained steady at 114 cars; the railway is aiming for 168 cars.

To help it determine maximum train lengths, the CPR uses software called Train Area Marshaling that allows it to model its trains before they are even built.

The software helps it simulate the sort of in-train forces trains would experience across its entire network, taking into consideration things like the actual curves and gradation the trains will encounter.

The software then determines the ideal weight distribution by recommending strategic placement of loaded and empty cars, and the best locations for remote locomotive sets (distributed power).

The software is so good the CPR thinks it will be able to increase the length of its coal trains to 250 cars.

Over at CN, that railway has been testing 200-car trains in the Maritimes. In northern Ontario, on its trans-continental mainline, it plans to lengthen sidings from 6,000-7,000 feet to 12,000 to 14,000 feet to accommodate the longer trains.

Up until the 1990s, the average freight train in Canada was about 5,000 feet (1.54 kilometres) long and weighed 7,000 tons. But it is now not uncommon for trains to be 12,000 feet long, and sometimes as much as 14,000 feet (more than four kilometres).

The railways love the longer trains, of course—they reduce the number of trains they need to run, the number of people they need to employ, the wear-and-tear on track and the amount of fuel they use.

The longer trains have caught the eye of Transport Canada, which has launched a six-part study with an eye on developing policies for how these longer, heavier trains are assembled and run.

With information from the Feb. 26, 2011 Financial Post. Photo credit: CPR.

Athearn Blue Box, New Power and other Labour Day Weekend Thoughts

2011-09-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

This Labour Day weekend I've been "labouring" on the layout--doing some fine-tuning, finding and fixing bugs and cleaning the layout room. I've also enjoyed watching my new units run in their first "revenue" service, as in the photos above and below.

One thing I discovered is that my trusty old Athearn Blue Box SD40-2 units aren't quite up to it when it comes to mastering the new, steeper grade in my helix. (The result of changes to the layout; see Going, going, gone.) They can pull 12-14 cars no problem, but they really struggle with the 18-20 that is normal on the M & M Sub.

This is not the case for my Kato, Atlas, Proto or newer Athearn power. They have no trouble at all surmounting the grade.

One option is to replace my Athearn Blue Box with newer power--something I am slowly doing. But there are no easy-to-obtain replacements for CP Rail's SD40-2 units. (Atlas--are you listening?) In the meantime, I've decided to go back to the future, as it were.

Back when I started the layout, I didn't own enough powered units for all the trains I wanted to run. (Due to lack of funds.) I compensated by using non-powered units, which were much cheaper. I used two powered units to climb from one level to the other, but a powered and non-powered unit to come down.

I'm doing a variation on that theme again. This time, I'm using my Blue Box units for trains coming down from the upper level, and the newer power for going up. Locomotives are switched between levels by hand in the staging yards. (The upper and lower staging yards are located above each other.)

Once again, necessity is the mother of invention. Or maybe I found a labour saving device on this Labour Day weekend.

Unusual Non-Model Railroad Items For Your Layout

2011-09-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

An old printer cartridge makes a unique load.

What's the most unusual or creative non-model railroad item you have used for your hobby?

For me it would be whiskers. One day--back when I still had black facial hair--I dumped out the contents of my electric razor and thought they sure looked like scale-size cinders. I collected subsequent emptyings and placed the contents trackside. They looked OK, even if the supply was a little limited. (With my gray hair today, this doesn't work as well.)

Then there was the time I tried dryer lint to make thick grass. I sprinkled on ground foam, thinking it might look half decent. Wrong! Too bad, though, since dryer lint comes in an almost limitless supply.

A less strange, but still unusual non-model railroad item is in the photo above--and old printer cartridge. In this case, it's really old; I think it comes from an old dot matrix printer. (Remember those?) I'm slowly adding bits and pieces to make it look more like a realistic load--a transformer, perhaps.

Other non-model railroad items I have tried include kitty litter for rip rap; tops off spray paint bans and other containers for roof vents and stacks; old-style artificial Christmas trees for fir trees; and straws for pipe loads.

A friend used the insider container of a Kinder Egg, the children's chocolate egg with a toy surprise inside, to make a unique large compressor-type load. Americans who want to try this will have to smuggle their Kinder Eggs in from Canada, though; they are illegal in the U.S.

When I posed this question about non-model railroad items on the Atlas HO forum, things people said they used included fake eyelashes for splash strips on trailers; Scotch tape rollers for tanks; and Grape Nuts cereal flakes spray painted black, silver and gray for a scrap metal load. (Just make sure you don't have mice!)

What are the most creative or unusual non-model railroad items you have employed?

Trains and Mountains: The Crowsnest Pass

2011-08-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

UP freight in Crowsnest Pass.

The southernmost route through the mountains between Alberta and B.C. is the Crowsnest Pass.

The CPR built the line in 1897 to reach rich coal fields in the area and, not incidentally, to keep American railways—which were reaching north into Canada—out.

CPR consist at Cranbrook.

In 1916 the line was completed to the Pacific Ocean, becoming the CPR’s second mainline to the coast. It was closed in 1959 due to washouts.

Today what remains of the line is still busy, mostly due to coal traffic out of the region, and to interchange traffic with the Union Pacific, which has run-through trains to Alberta from the border crossing at Eastport, Idaho/Kingsgate, B.C.

During a recent trip through the Crowsnest Pass, I got a few photos of UP and CPR trains.

UP train at Cranbrook.

A ballast train enters the yard.

And passes by.

Paint the Track!

2011-08-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

Brown paint makes the rails look more realistic.

I recently visited a model railroad that was, by most any estimate, a pretty good layout—good looking scenery, interesting track plan, nice and varied scenes. Obviously, a lot of thought had gone into it.

Except in one crucial area: The track. It was silver. Although the owners had gone to some length to create a believable and credible model, they had failed to paint the track.

The result? No matter how good the overall impression, the layout looked toy-like. After all, everyone knows track isn’t silver!

Maybe I’m being too picky, but I don’t think so. And it’s not like my standards are so high—you won’t find any fine-scale models on my layout (and I still run Athearn blue box locomotives). But in this area I am pretty uncompromising.

For me, nothing detracts from a scene like unpainted track.

I don't claim to be an expert track painter. All I did was use brown and black latex paints, applied with a brush. I didn't worry about matching the exact shade of brown or grey as the prototype. All I wanted to do was to hide the silver sides.

Even Code 100 looks smaller when painted.

That said, I did try to match a bit of the prototype by using a lighter brown for yard or little-used tracks, and a darker brown, or almost black, for the mainline.

To paint the track, I simply put some brown and black paint on a piece of cardboard, then randomly mixed it together. A stiff modeller’s brush was used to apply the paint; after doing a few feet, I wiped the excess paint off the top of the rails.

I also added the brown-black mixture to the tops of the ties, to take off the uniform black plastic sheen.

Even though my track is all Code 100—much larger than on the prototype—I found that by painting the track it looked smaller (especially from three feet away).

Some might worry that painting the track makes flex-track harder to re-use if you ever have to pull it up. I didn’t find that to be the case, although you have to clean the ends if you clip a piece of painted track in mid-track to fit another space (to establish good electrical contact for the rail joiner).

Painting flex-track also stiffens it; you have to bend it a few times to break the paint so it will once again be able to curve.

But those are small things to consider when weighed against how good track looks when it is painted—and how bad it looks when it isn’t.

In my opinion, at least.