Great Canadian Model Railroad: The Ontario & Eastern

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!

Holy Helices!

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.

Great Canadian Model Railroad: The Lake Erie & International

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.

Canada Central Layout Photos Posted

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.

Great Canadian Model Railroad: Roger Traviss' Great Eastern Railway

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.

Great Canadian Model Railroad: The Port Kelsey Railway

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.