Confessions of a Model Train Geek
A model train geek, learning as he goes.
The Central Prairie Railway is a short line in the Canadian Prairie. The railway serves two local towns and interchanges with both CN and CP. The main industries served by the Central Prairie include several local grain elevators and a local fuel depot. The railway also offers car storage on a branch line that is … Read more Introducing the Central Prairie Railway
So, that happened. After posting that photo on the excellent Canadian Railway Modellers Facebook group, I learned that many other people have made the same mistake when installing / changing couplers. Stuff happens. It’s easy to do, especially when the car might be upside down and you’re trying to jam in the spring, coupler, put … Read more S**t, er, Stuff Happens
I recently took down the web page for my second model railway layout, the Nova Scotia Eastern Railway (NSER), a freelanced shortline railway based on a prototypical railway. I had written the web page as if the NSER was a real railroad. Welcome to the home page of the Nova Scotia Eastern Railway. We serve the … Read more The Nova Scotia Eastern Railway, Part 2
Like most people I like to draw up track plans before beginning construction. Now that all the track is laid on my layout, I’d like to show the evolution of the track plan for this layout. Remember that I model in HO scale. My train room is 20’6″ by about 10′ but is not quite … Read more Track Plan Evolution
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. The real Portage la Prairie of the time featured: CN and CP main lines running parallel to each other A crossing … Read more Adapting Reality
It’s time to start planning for my next model train layout. Hallelujah! In my life I have had two serious layouts: the Nova Scotia Eastern and CN in Bathurst, NB (circa 1975). The NSER was torn up in 2004, and the CN layout lasted until 2009. Both were removed prior to moving. As I write … Read more Planning for the New Layout
Finally we come to the plan I am building to, version 5. This version features four long tracks of staging each for Miramichi and Campbellton, as well as a single track of staging for each of the Caraquet Subdivision, the Nepisiguit Subdivision, the Irvco spur in Belledune, and the Smurfit-Stone industry in Bathurst. Can you … Read more Latest layout plan
With my new layout room, I needed a new plan. My initial thought was to continue with the Dartmouth Subdivision idea that the NSER used. This plan is basically a single-level dogbone with some around-the-wall staging. No doubt you can see a number of problems with the design, including restricted aisle space. On the plus … Read more Track Planning For The New Layout