How Sad Is That?

GP38-2 3036 doesn't look like it spent much time in the box.
During the recent Winnipeg Model Railroad Club fall show and flea market, several sellers had boxes of unopened locomotives and rolling stock for sale. Some had signs on the boxes: "Never been opened!" or "Never run!"

They saw this as a selling feature, but all I could think is: How sad is that? How sad is it that the owners of these items never had the pleasure of running them on a layout?

The most common reason why these items have never been opened is that the sellers don't have layouts (and probably never will). Which is not uncommon in the world of model railroading; a friend who manufactures model railroad items estimates that 60 percent of his customers will never run the items he produces: 30 percent are collectors, and 30 percent want to build a layout someday, but likely never will.

(Of course, he doesn't mind this state of affairs, since it means that over half his customers will never call with a warranty issue!)

To each his own, of course. It's not for me to judge how someone enjoys the hobby. But it still feels sad when items that were meant to move just end up sitting in boxes.

Has This Ever Happened To You?

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever gone to a train show and . . . bought nothing?

I did that this weekend. The annual fall Winnipeg Model Railroad Club show was a great event, with over 70 sales and display tables. There was lots of great stuff for sale. But nothing called my name, or made me want to take out my wallet.

Friends at the show couldn't believe it. "There must be something you need," they said, lugging their purchases from table to table. But the answer was no. There is nothing I need: Not track, not switches, not buildings, not locomotives, not rolling stock. Nothing.

Yes, I know—it's a sad situation.

My problem, if you can call it that, is that my layout is finished. Or, at least, as finished as it's ever going to be. It's also full; there's no room for another locomotive or car.

Oh, sure, if there had been something special, something unique, something I didn't already own, I might have bought it at the show. But that didn't happen.

Twenty years ago, I couldn't have imagined this ever happening. Back then, I needed almost everything. In fact, the reason I got involved in running the local train show was not just altruistic—to do it for others, or even to raise money for a worthy charity. (Our show splits the proceeds with the Autism Society.) It was because I needed stuff for my layout, so I couldn't let it die!

But now I am at a different stage of the hobby. It's satisfying, in one sense, to have accomplished my goals. But, in another sense, it creates a sense of sadness; I miss those days of few dollars and lots of needs.That's when I always found something to buy at a train show.

I miss those days.

Backdrop Photo: River Scene

River scene on the CP Rail M & M Sub.

One scene that turned out fairly well on the CP Rail M & M Sub. is at Rushing River. That's where I used a calendar photo to simulate the river going off into the distance. Luckily, the green water in the photo was a good match for the green paints I had on hand, so it was relatively easy to merge the two.

Of course, it's not perfect; look at it the "wrong" way and it's pretty easy to see it's just a photo. But for normal layout viewing, it works OK. It helps that this scene is at eye-level, which means viewers aren't looking down at the river or backdrop. But even from high above, it looks fine, as in the photo below.

Another view of the river scene, from above. More

photos below.

Private Owner's Train on the M & M Sub.

Two VIA Rail units lead a private owner's train over the
Rushing River.

Since the CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Subdivision is set in the early 1990s, it doesn't see regular passenger service anymore.

Strangely, the more northerly CN route traversed by VIA Rail's The Canadian seems to have lots of problems, forcing the passenger service's signature western Canadian train on M & M Sub. rails.

The scenic route does see another kind of passenger service, though: Private owner's trains. Like the one I caught while out railfanning on the Rushing River in October; see the photos below.


Northern Pacific.


Union Pacific


New York Central.


Canadian National


Texas Special (MKT & Frisco)


Canadian Pacific Railway


Southern Pacific


And bringing up the rear, the CPR business car.

In the real world, private owner's trains are trains of privately owned passenger cars that come together periodically for rare mileage runs (tracks that haven't seen passenger service for a long time).

On my layout, the train provides a colourful change of pace, and a reason to run passenger service. The train is made up of Rivarossi passenger cars (all except the business car, which is by Kato, and the VIA Rail baggage car, by Con Cor). It gives me a chance to run the classic and colourful schemes of the golden age of passenger service. It also gives me a chance to utilize my, er, cheap side; all of the cars were bought used or greatly on sale. It's a great reason to check out used bins and flea markets!

Railfanning the Manitoba & Minnesota Subdivision

So I set up near one of my favorite railfanning spots on the M & M Sub., near the bridge at Rushing River. I made my way to the bluff overlooking the tracks, and took shots of trains as they came by. First up, an intermodal led by 9551, one of those newfangled AC4400 units (it isn 1995, after all!)



After that came a mixed freight, led by "Red Barn" 9000. This is one of the units that used to ply the rails in B.C. until the AC4400s and other newer power came along.



A couple of SOO SD60s was next, pulling a grain train.



Last, I caught The Canadian, detouring over the Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. rails.

In reality, the last few days have found me taking lots of photos of the layout; photography is sort of my hobby-within-the-hobby, even if the results are pretty basic. Taking pictures has certainly become a lot easier since the advent of digital cameras; in the "old" days, which weren't so long ago, I used film.

Back then, you didn't know if you had a decent shot until after the film was developed; I kept a photo sheet where I recorded aperture, shutter speed, time and other things related to each shot. Now, it's just point and shoot, and make adjustments on the fly.

Lots more photos to come!