More Progress on the CP Rail M & M Sub. (And a Confession)

Trains are running again on the M & M Sub.

Progress is being made on the M & M Sub. Slowly, but that's the way I like it. No need to rush; I've got lots of time to get'er done, as we say on the prairies. Plus, how much ballasting can a person do in one go and not lose their mind?

Speaking of ballast, I've done about a quarter of what needs to be done. Can't say that it's much fun, but it is more enjoyable than painting track. Although with painting track at least it's done in one evening; ballasting takes at least two days as the glue dries, and then a third day to fix the places where it didn't stick.

(And I thought I was done with ballasting, as when I wrote about the "last ballast," as opposed to the last spike. But that was before I decided to take down part of my layout and start over.)

Anyway, we're getting there--some of the land forms are done, and the basic town layout is determined. Best of all, trains are running again on the newly-ballasted track, which is always a good thing.

Next up, the finicky stuff: I need to eyeball the track and pick off any stray ballast that is sticking to the sides of the rails. There's nothing worse than a photo of a great model railroad with pieces of ballast doing that gravity-defying thing on the side of a rail!

A Confession

This has nothing to do with model railroading, but I feel the need to note something about this blog. As the view count rises toward 450,000, I have to note that some of those views are the result of comment spam.

(Comment spam is when owners of websites use robots to send comments to blogs with their URLs embedded in the messages; the goal is to have their website link noted on as many blogs as possible so as to improve their SEO rankings.)

Some days, there are a few spam comments; some days there are more. This weekend was particularly bad, with over 100.

Since I moderate all comments, they go directly to my spam box and I delete them. But each time they hit a page that counts as a view, which drives up my count. (There can't be a lot of model railroaders in Russia, Poland, Cyprus and Turkey with an interest in Canadian model railroading--can there?)

Since the spammers change their addresses frequently, it's impossible to block them. (Or, at least, I think that's the case; if anyone knows different, let me know.)

In the end, the view count is meaningless, I know; I do this for fun, and for me. But all that spam is annoying and bothersome--another glimpse into the dark side of the Internet.

KISS and Model Railroading

For most of us model railroaders, KISS means "Keep It Simple, Stupid." For some music fans, it means the rock group KISS.

 

But for Dave Landels of the Bow Valley Model Railroad Club of Calgary, it means both: KISS, the music group, and model railroading. 

The devoted KISS fan has created a show-stopping module featuring a KISS concert with over 4,000 figures in the crowd--along with the band, music and lights (and, in a nice touch, a row of Porta-Potties).

It took Dave about a month to make the module. The KISS band members are custom-made, and the lighting is from a recycled in-store advertisement.

When not part of the Bow Valley modular layout, the KISS module can be found in Dave's KISS room, as evidenced by the photo he posted on KISS online.

 

Click here to watch (and hear) a video of the KISS module, and hear an interview with Dave.

Photos of the module from Jeff, from the Canadian Model Trains group on Yahoo!

Working on the Railroad: Adding Scenery

Progress so far . . . 

Operations have ground to a halt on the M & M Sub. while I work on scenery.

This is not an uncommon occurrence; when I am painting, ballasting and making scenery, the room and layout become so messy that it is impossible to run trains. All I can do is stick with it and wait for the day when I can once again see trains run--this time through new scenery.

Right now, I'm working on land forms and scenery for the new lower level peninsula. Over the past few months, work was delayed as I experimented with what to do with the area.

The original idea.

At first, I thought I would create a larger small town (an oxymoron?) with lots of buildings. But it just didn't look right; it seemed to busy for an out-of-the way place along the line.

Then I thought I'd take an ultra-minimalist approach--just one singe grain elevator and a spur, surrounded by fields and trees. But that didn't seem right, either.

Ultimately, I adopted the Goldilock's approach of something in the middle; two elevators and a few buildings to give a sense of activity--but not too much. I also added some small hills to provide variety to the terrain; once trees are added, it will help diminish the turn back loop.

The present plan.

That's where it stands right now, at least; by the time I'm done, it could be changed again. Meantime, I continue to work on finishing up the area so I once again can start running trains.

Another Announcement at Calgary's Supertrain Show: Potash Covered Hoppers

Also announced at the Calgary Supertain show today (and of interest to Canadian modellers): A National Steel Car Potash Service 4275 cu. ft. 3 Bay Covered Hopper in HO and N scale from North American Railcar Corporation (a division of Pacific Western Rail Systems).

 

The car, which will be released in December, this year, is operated in large numbers by Canpotex and the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, and in smaller numbers by other operators. 

To date, over 7,000 have been produced in early and late versions. They can be found across the U.S. and Canada on railways such as the CPR, CN, BNSF, CSX, NS and UP.

 

For more information, go to the PWRS website.

Athearn Announces New HO Scale Locomotive at Calgary Supertrain Show

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