Last Look at the Thompson River Canyon

Now that the Thompson River Canyon layout is done, and the Manitoba Mega Train Show where it was on display for the final time is over, this is a good chance to take a look back at the layout.

After bringing it home from the show, and before I sold it to a friend, I took it outside on the deck for some photos in the sunlight. The results are on this page.

As for thoughts about the making of the layout itself, it was a great project and a great way to remember my brother-in-law.

Finishing it not only meant the end of construction, but also saying a final goodbye to Ken: Letting him go, almost two years after his death from cancer.

I also enjoyed this foray into N Scale, over 40 years since I last was involved with that scale. Back then, locomotives had two speeds: Stop and fast. Today, they can crawl so slowly and realistically. And there is a great and wide variety of rolling stock.

N Scale also has a great scenery-to-trains ratio, something I tried to use for good effect on the Thompson River Canyon.

This is something that is so often and unfortunately overlooked by many N-Trak groups, in my opinion. For some reason, they feel compelled to cram as much track into a 2 by 4 foot module as humanly possible--something that I think detracts from the power and strength of this scale.

The layout also showed, I hope, that you don't need a huge room to have a satisfying model railroad experience. In this case, all it took was a 2 by 7 foot door.

And so it is over. Now there are only photos to remember it by. I hope you enjoyed the trip. I know I did!

You can find more photos and info about the Thompson River Canyon layout by clicking on the label on the right, or by visiting my Flickr page.