New Power for the CP Rail M & M Sub.

New power on the M & M Sub.

The worst thing about a finished model railroad is not needing anything new.

I passed the acquisition stage some time ago. For a long time, I have owned all the motive power and rolling stock I need.

It sort of puts a damper on visiting the hobby shop or going to a train show.

But I recently did aquire some used locomotives. For a while now, I've been interested in upgrading my fleet of SD40-2 locomotives--the bulk of which is Atheran blue box. Despite the fact that the venerable and much-lauded SD40-2 was one of North American railroading's most ubiquitous locomotives, and that CP Rail had one of the largest fleets, there really aren't many CP Rail units available in model form.

For my money, the best units were made by Kato. But not only aren't they making many HO items anymore, the CP Rail SD40-2 units they did produce had terrible lettering (too skinny). I have one, but I still wince everytime it passes by.

Athearn did produce an upgraded SD40-2 in CP Rail in the late 1990s, but try finding one now. (There is a high nose version coming out this year that might tempt me.)

And Atlas? Well, that would be the best thing, in my books--I love their GP 38-2 units. But they don't make any SD40-2 units in HO at all.

That's why I was glad to find buy some new Kato power from my friend Rob Sarna recently--two SD40-2 units in SOO and a Kato CP Rail SD45. They are beautifully detailed and weathered; Rob did a great job. They look good pulling freight on the M & M Sub.

Meanwhile, I'm still in the hunt for some new CP Rail SD40-2 locomotives--upgraded Athearns or Kato (without the skinny logo).

And Atlas, you can make my day by making an SD40-2 in CP Rail.

The SD45 looks great . . .

Around the World and Close to Home (or, It's a Small World)

It's a small world . . .

One neat thing about the Internet is that we are able to be in communication with people around the world. But sometimes it also helps us get into contact with people close to home. That's what happened to me recently.

I was at a local hobby shop, and saw someone who looked familiar. He looked at me, and thought the same thing. It turned out he was a neighbour's son--someone I had not seen much of in the past few years.

At first, I was just delighted to find that someone who lived on my street was also interested in model railroading. Then I told him about my blog.

"No way," he said. "That's your blog? I've been following that blog for a while now."

So there he was, in his house, three doors away from my home, learning about a model railroad in my basement--with no idea it was so close.

And not only that, he also models CP Rail in a similar time period--the reason he was drawn to the blog in the first place.

It is a small world, after all!

Prototypical Plausibility, or the C-P-R Principle

Would a CP Rail SD40-2 ever lead a VIA
passenger train? The C-P-R principle says yes.

The C-P-R principle--that's what my friend Eric Gagnon suggests to help modellers determine prototypical plausibility.

The subject came up on the Candian Model Trains group on Yahoo! during a discussion about whether it might have been possible to find CN and CP Rail F-units mixed together on VIA Rail passenger trains during VIA's early years.

The issue got Eric thinking. "It would be useful to have some sort of an index, matrix or principle to determine whether a given practice ever happened," he wrote.

It's too easy and not really meaningful to just say yes, it happened, because someone saw it in a magazine once, read it online or heard it from a friend, he added.

Besides, that's not the real question, Eric wrote. The real question is: "Can I realistically model it as a practice that exceeds one-off status?" And: "Is there proof that I can rely on, to assist me in my modelling?

For Eric, there are at least three factors that need to be addressed. He calls this the C-P-R principle: Context, Probability and Records (C-P-R).

Context: When and where? Which specific era? Which location or area?

Probability: What likelihood was there, day in and day out, that the practice could be seen by a trackside observer during the era in question?

Records: Are there photographic or other first-person observations to illustrate the practice? If it did happen, how relevant is it to realistic modelling, if that's the questioner's aim?

In answer to the question that started it all--if CN and CP Rail F-units might have ever been seen together at the head of a passenger train during VIA's early years--Eric says yes. The probability is excellent, and there are photographic records.

On the CP Rail M & M Sub., my goal is plausibility--is it likely that a certain locomotive or piece of rolling stock might be found in Manitoba and Minnesota during the early 1990s? Up until now, I've gone mostly with my gut, and the little bit of knowledge I have of that era and locale. But now I might also be able to use C-P-R, too.

Thanks, Eric.

(Photo from Trackside Treasure.)

A Nice Scene

Here's a nice scene on the M & M Sub., aided greatly by one of Rapido Train's great-looking CP Rail Angus Vans.

The scene itself is just about 8 inches wide and maybe a foot long, running from the entryway to a short wall (which the tracks punch through).

Another view.

O Scale Fall in Pennsylvania (in Manitoba)

It's always fall on Ron's layout.

One of Ron  Loewen's favorite places is Pennsylvania in the fall. So when it came time for the Manitoban to build a layout, that state and time of year were natural choices.

Ron's three-rail layout fills the second floor of his two-car garage; Ron uses MTH DCS to run four trains at time. He like nothing better after a day of work than sitting back and watching trains run around the layout.

Other features include a six-foot long bridge, tunnels, smoke, sound and a camera on a flatcar that allows visitors to view trains from an engineer's perspective on a TV screen in the layout room.

Ron doesn't specialize in any railroad--whatever looks good is fine with him. He does have a fondness for billboard reefers, though.

I visited Ron just before an open house, when he was getting the layout ready for visitors; see photos below. A video of the layout can be found on my CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota YouTube channel by clicking here.

Click here to see more photos from a follow-up visit to Ron's layout, including more fall foliage.



Ron in his layout room.