Looking Back at 2012: Most Popular Pages and Other Things

With 2012 behind us, it’s time for a look back at the most popular pages on the CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota blog.

But first, a quick overview; 2012 was the year the blog surpassed my model railroad YouTube channel, with 368, 623 views to 301,357 (as of Dec. 31).

Overall, most of the views have come from Canada , followed by the U.S. , Germany , Great Britain , France , Australia , Russia , Netherlands , Brazil , Switzerland.

Top search terms for people finding the blog are CN, VIA Rail, CP Rail, Josef Brandl, trolley car barn (!), CN Rail, CP trains, CN logo and Tony Koester.

As for the most viewed blog posts in 2012, here are the top 10 (between 900-2,725 views).

1. Doug Tagsold’s new Terminal of Toledo layout.

2. The end of the Aberfoyle Junction, one of Canada ’s premier O scale layouts. Four posts altogether: The announcement, link to a video, press release from the club and a photo essay.

3. Neil Young’s O scale layout.

4. Arnold Walker’s Northland Route—one of the best in North America , in my opinion. There were so many great photos, I had to make a second post. 

5. Chinese factory closings and the effect on model railroad manufacturing. There were three posts on this subject as I tried to keep pace with events. Find them here, here, and here. 

6. Mark Dance’s fabulous N scale Columbia and Western layout. 

7. Dave Chomyn’s magnificent Othello Tunnels Free-mo modules.

8. My post about the history and varied applications of the CP Rail Multimark.

9. The 2012 Grey Cup Express train, which crossed Canada to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of Canada ’s football championship. (Won by the Toronto Argonauts, by-the-way.)  

10. The Model Railway Show rounded out the top ten, with a three-part interview with creators Trevor Marshall and Jim Martin.

Something that continues to bring me a great deal of satisfaction is bringing great Canadian and other layouts to the web, sometimes for the first time. This past year that included Dave Rickaby’s and Lyle Beck’s Wisconsin & Michigan layouts—gone now, but not forgotten.

I was also glad to feature a tribute to Rich Loveman and his unique Thompson River Canyon layout;  R.I. P., Rich.

It was also fun to discover, by happenstance, a great “lonewolf” layout just a few kilometers away from where I live.

Altogether, I’ve been able to feature about 40 Great Canadian Model Railroads like this "lone wolf" layout;  I look forward to showing more of them in 2013.

Anyway, thanks for coming along for the ride in 2012 on the CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Subdivision blog; here's hoping for many more great rides in the year ahead.