Adapting Reality

CP 3120 in Portage la Prairie
CP 3120 in Portage la Prairie

I am modeling a layout loosely based on Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. I call it “adapting reality”. In my world I have renamed it to Georgetown (after my father) and dated it to about 1989.

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The real Portage la Prairie of the time featured:

  • CN and CP main lines running parallel to each other
  • A crossing of CN and CP in the town
  • Two branch lines (CN Gladstone and CP Minnedosa)
  • Several grain elevators
  • Two train stations
  • An interchange yard between the two railways

Eric Gagnon wrote a very good series on modeling Portage.

Georgetown features:

  • CN and CP main lines running parallel to each other
  • One branch line (CP Minnedosa)
  • Two grain elevators
  • One train station
  • An interchange track between the two railways

I couldn’t include a crossover of the two railways due to other layout considerations I will go into later.

Here’s the track plans for CN and CP in Georgetown.

CN Georgetown Layout
CN in Georgetown

CN features a passing siding, an elevator track (UGG), an oil unloading track and an interchange track.

 

CP in Georgetown
CP in Georgetown

CP features a passing siding, an elevator track (Manitoba Pool), a team track, a freight shed, an interchange track, and the CP Minnedosa subdivision, which is single track staging.

I’m very interested in operation and I think this will provide a bit of operational interest in switching, interchanging and a few train meets.