Great Help for Designing and Building a Shelf Layout

Soon after taking down my large (17 by 21 foot) double deck (at one time triple-deck) layout, I joined three Facebook groups dedicated to shelf layouts—like the one I am building now.

My goal was to pick up some ideas, get some encouragement, maybe even show off a bit of my work.

So I joined Micro/Small Model RR Layouts, HO Scale Shelf Layouts and Shelf Layouts, Switching Layouts and Layouts for Small Spaces.

Micro/Small layouts is a group is for anyone who doesn’t have a spare room or basement to devote to a layout. (Which isn’t me, but they still let me join.) People don’t need a layout to participate.

HO Scale Shelf Layouts defines a shelf layout as something that utilizes a narrow shelf of various depths and may or may not be supported by legs. It is linear in design and could be around the room or along the walls. (That is more like what I am doing.)

And Shelf Layouts, Switching Layouts and Layouts for Small Spaces is pretty much just what it says in the title.

It was a great decision to join, for the following reasons. 

First, it reminded me again of how great these Facebook groups are (even if you, like me, am ambivalent about Facebook and its growing power over our lives).

Unlike model railroad magazines, which only show the best layouts in North America (or other countries), Facebook groups are open to anyone of any skill. You get to see such a wide variety of modelling, from beginner to expert.

Everyone is welcome, in other words.

Second, model railroad magazines devote their precious real estate (pages) to finished layouts—you aren’t going to see lots of photos of layouts under construction. But Facebook enables people to post photos at all stages of the process. You can learn a lot by seeing benchwork!

Third, the modelling comes from all over—Canada, the U.S., the UK, Europe, Japan. It is great to see so many different styles.

Fourth, the groups allow people to ask questions. Some people show the space they have and ask others for ideas—and get them. And some modellers, like Rob Chant of The Journal of Model Railroad Design blog, post plans and suggestions on the Micro/Small Layouts group.

Fifth, what a creative bunch model railroaders are! Some of the layouts are just tracks in boxes. One folds down from the wall. 

Others are one switch, a spur and an industry—all the space someone had. Some people make intricately-detailed dioramas.

The need to build a layout of any size or kind is strong—and many people are up for the challenge, if the meaning of the word “layout” is stretched in different ways.

These groups (there may be others) have been very helpful and inspiring to me as I created my new Gateway Spur, an HO scale switching layout. You might enjoy them, too.

Resto Gare: A Train Lover's Restaurant in Winnipeg

Where better to enjoy a great meal than in a passenger car?

Of course, the best place to do that is on The Canadian, traveling across Canada. But if you can't do it on a real train, you can still do it in a stationary passenger car in Winnipeg at the Resto Gare in St. Boniface.

That's what I recently did with my wife (for our anniversary).

The Resto Gare is located in the former St. Boniface railway station, built in 1913-14 for the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR).

In addition to the renovated station, the restaurant features fine dining in former CNoR passenger car #9647.

Built by Canadian Car & Foundry in 1914, it was acquired by the CNR in 1921. It became sleeping car #1458 “Trenton” in 1953.

It finished its service as CNR mechanical instruction car #15022.

I don’t know how or when it got to Resto Gare, but I do know I always ask to be seated in it when we visit the restaurant.

While sitting there, I find myself wondering who else sat in the car over its many decades of service.

Who were those people? Where were they going? What were their lives like?

In the early years they may have been immigrants, newly arrived in Canada and filled with hope and trepidation as they headed west to new lives in a new land. 

Later, they may have been vacationers, going east and west across the country and enjoying the fine accommodations the railway provided.

And now they are people looking for a fine meal, with some train ambience on the side.

So if you like trains, and find yourself in Winnipeg in need of a fine meal, Resto Gare is a great choice.

His First (and Maybe Last) Byline in Trains Magazine

It only took seven years (or more).

That was my first thought after reading the end of an article by William S. Kuba in the January, 2019 issue of Trains Magazine.

The article was about the time Kuba went AWOL from the army while watching trains.

At the end of the article, it was noted that Kuba, a railroad photographer and historian known for his photos of Iowa railroading, had died Nov. 23, 2012 at the age of 75.

It also said this was his first Trains byline.

That means it took at least seven years before his article was published.

So congratulations to Kuba—it isn’t easy to get published in Trains.

Too bad he isn’t alive to see it.

Cover of the January issue with
William Kuba's article.

Now, before anyone jumps up and down on the staff at Trains, as I have written about before (about the Model Railroader cover “curse”) there’s a perfectly good explanation for this.

Magazines like Trains, Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman and others can receive dozens of unsolicited submissions each year.

With just 12 issues per year, limited space in print, and commitments to columnist, regular departments and assigned articles, they can use only a fraction of them.

And so they sit—until there’s room, it fits a theme, there’s a page or space to fill, or an expected article drops out for some reason.

I have some experience with this as an author. An article I wrote about a scenery method for Model Railroader waited four years before being published.

On the plus side, it was paid for right away when the magazine accepted it.

In that time, anything could have happened to me or my layout. (Leading to speculation about the “curse.”)

I also know this from the other side, when I was Associate Editor at Canadian Railway Modeller. 

Since CRM was bi-monthly, that magazine had an even bigger challenge when it came to space. Articles could wait a long time before being published. (Although never seven years!)

Of course, that’s no consolation for poor William S. Kuba. (Although he at least got his payment before he died.)

Who knows? Maybe Trains has another article or two from him, waiting to be used. Maybe he will be published posthumously again.

At least he made it into Trains Magazine. And that’s not something most of us can say—dead or alive.

SuperTrain 2019

Rapido's Royal Hudson. Beautiful!

Another Supertrain is behind me. As usual, it was a good experience, made better by spending a day with an old high school friend.

The day started as I like when going to SuperTrain: Taking the C-Train to the show. Nothing like taking a train to see trains!

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by a show this big. My goal, while there, is to find things that are unique and different—a scene on a huge layout, an interesting exhibitor or display.

Or sometimes interesting people, like Shaun Teirele, president of Steel Horse Models.

Shaun, who is from Red Deer (two hours north of Calgary), has been dabbling in 3-D printing for about eight years while running an oil field inspection company.

With the downturn in the oil sector in the province, Shaun closed his company and starting doing 3-D printing full-time, mostly trade show models. Now he’s trying his hand at model railroading

“It’s a gamble, but it’s fun,” he says of the new business line.

Right now, Shaun has got GP20C-ECO, SD30C-ECO, SW1504, SD402-F (Red Barn), B23-S7, SD50 and 60Fs in production, in N, TT, HO, O and 1:32

Then there’s Grant Smith, who has a unique hobby within the hobby of model railroading: He is trying to collect a model of each of the Union Pacific’s 25 Big Boys.

So far, he has 17 of them in plastic, brass and diecast, along with a collection of ephemera related to the massive machines—articles, photos, calendars and what-not.

While at Grant's display, we talked about the upcoming run of Big Boy 4014 this summer.

Apparently, tens of thousands of people are expected to show up in Ogden, Utah, and along the way from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to see the unit in action.

Greg said that state police along the route have already issued warnings to railfans: Anyone caught driving at track speed along roads that parallel the tracks—the better to take photos and video—will be pulled over and ticketed.

As much as he loves the Big Boys, he’s not planning to go; too expensive. He can use the money he saves to buy another model!

Then there were the layouts. There are many to enjoy, but this year it was the Brits who caught most of my attention.

I really liked the Kingsley and Frogall, an O Scale layout modelled after a prototype line in Great Britain.

Then there was the Calgary British Railway Modellers. On their layout, I was taken by the harbour scene.

The Independent Free-Mo Operating Group always impresses, too. (Although I wonder about the reason for the name—was there a conflict with another Free-Mo group that led to the creation of the layout?)

Dan Huberman was there from North American Railcar, showing off some gorgeous, but expensive ($60 each) N Scale rolling stock.

Yes, he said, they are expensive. But there is a good market for cars like this from modelers who want higher quality cars for their layouts.

(Speaking of layouts, I found out Dan is an N Scaler.)

Shira Trains did not make an appearance; no CPR D-10 to see in person.

The last time I attended the show was 2016. This year’s show seemed smaller, a few more empty display spaces and more room between layouts.

I did a bit of checking, and there were fewer layouts this year; 52 in 2019 versus 66 in 2016.

As for manufacturers and other displays, in 2016 there were 66, but this year there were 68—so no big difference there.

One thing that was noticeable was the lack of the big manufacturers—no Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann or Bowser. Fortunately, Rapido was there showing off its new Royal Hudson. (See top.)

This is no big deal; I used to run the model railroad show in Winnipeg and from year-to-year we would have more or less layouts, displays and sales tables.

And the day ended as it began, on the C-Train. A great day, all around, and congrats and thanks to the organizers, volunteers, clubs, manufacturers and others who made it all possible.