Confessions of a Model Train Geek
A model train geek, learning as he goes.
Here’s a little layout tour of the Central Prairie Railway to show the progress I’ve made. Basically I have laid all of the main town track for the Central Prairie, and the interchange to CN is fully functional. The next step is to complete the McCain spur, then run track around the room to the … Read more
I’ve made some decent progress on the layout since my last update (Fits and Starts). All of the track in the CN area has been laid and wired. I ended up buying a new Dremel, since the battery on my ancient Dremel had died and I couldn’t find a replacement battery. I ran another operating … Read more
I’ve been making progress on the Central Prairie Railway… in fits and starts. I’m trying not to beat myself up about the (lack of) progress. It’s a hobby, after all, and it shouldn’t feel like work. Every now and then, I get the urge to work on the layout and I do a bit of … Read more
As many people have found out, fitting the available space in a track plan doesn’t always mean that the real track fits the available space. Switches in particular can mislead you – they take up more space than people think. For the Central Prairie Railway, I’ve resolved to sketch it out in the track plan … Read more
I’ve always been challenged on how to store rail cars and locomotives when they aren’t on the layout itself. I’ve acquired most of my fleet from train shows and therefore I don’t have original boxes for 80-90% of the fleet – or any boxes at all for most of them. Over the years, I accumulated … Read more
I decided it’s time for a change. Time for a new layout. There have been a few issues with my layout that just aren’t fixable. The two major ones are: Duck-under at the entrance to the layout room / my office Grades to second level staging yard were too steep I was really starting to … Read more
Winnipeg’s premiere model train event, Manitoba Mega Train, is happening this weekend. I attended on Saturday morning and here are some photos and observations. The show filled the Red River Exhibition building. Someone told me there were 21 layouts here and I believe it. It seems a bit larger than 2018. There were layouts along … Read more
Jason Shron and his wife Sidura Ludwig gave a talk one evening last week, on Rapido Trains’s efforts to save full size trains, on life with a hardcore “train nut”, and on Rapido’s latest model offerings. It was a great talk and it was well attended. Jason started by reviewing the work that he and … Read more
I held a solo operating session during the month of July 2018, and recorded the session for your viewing enjoyment. I operated eight trains. The session includes every scheduled non-VIA train on my layout, which includes: CN 214 – a through train CN 403 – works the CP interchange in Georgetown and the Cargill grain … Read more
I had a grain car that had a coupler issue. Just a tad low. Nothing that a new Kadee coupler won’t fix! Sorry for the blurry photo. There are a few remedies for low couplers like this. Sometimes you can use a fibre washer or two on the truck bolster to raise the whole body up. … Read more