QSSR Mk. VI - A Preview

As a few of you probably know, I've been working again on my QSSR Mk.VI layout. This time, the goal is to finish is, get proficient with scenery techniques and make something upon which I can add up. With no surprise, this is the originator of the Monk Subdivision, so it's normal it serves as an experiment ground. 

I've gathered a lot of information while building this layout and will probably share a little bit of it here. So let's start with the station by the rural road. It's fully scratchbuilt in styrene and cardboard and based on a CPR style of stations that could be found in Southern Quebec. I really wanted that kind of scene because they set the interface between the railway and ourselves. This is the point of contact between two worlds that operate on different scale.

A rural scene in Southern Quebec

Structures for Monk Subdivision - Langlois Station - Part 1

On March 22, after taking a break from work that would last two months, I went to Armagh, QC. The goal was to gather dimensional data on a few old NTR structures preserved in a regional park, namely the Langlois Siding station and Armagh speeder shed.

Langlois station has been tastefully restored a few years ago

With temperature over 0, a bright sun in the sky and very little snow on the ground, it was the perfect day for a road trip and to survey without getting your fingers numb from the cold.

Distressing styrene adds texture for weathering

I thought I would 3D print the station a few months later, but I started to cut novelty siding and two days later, the station was finished, except for paint and shingles. It was one of these so-called "portable" designs, so the structure is very small to fit on a railway flat car.

Doors were build plank by plank following prototype

Later in life, the baggage room was enlarged due to high customer demand around Langlois which served a feed mill, a saw mill and was surrounded by a few workers' houses. The big particularity of this build is that I distressed all the styrene components to add wood grain using a razor saw.

The station ready for paint

I wouldn't do that on well kept structures, but old pictures show this station received minimal care during its last few decades of service and the wood was badly altered even in the 1950s. Another advantage of that technique is making the paint effects, washes and drybrushing much easier to apply.

Compared to a normal station, it looks tiny!

I joined a comparison picture of my kitbashed Atlas station just to show how small this one is.

Silence, work and more...

I’ve been quite quiet over the last few months. Health issues and exhaustion at work pushed me to take a break. Surprisingly, it translated into an extremely efficient period for my modelling work. I built several structures for Monk, experimenting new techniques, but also weathering several freight cars and even restarted my scenery work on the QSSR module. We also have greatly progressed with  All in all, a fantastic output, but for some reasons, I was not motivated to write about it. It was not a question of not sharing, which I will do in due time, but to immerse myself into a positive activity without any obligation. It was also an occasion to experiment with points of view and photography. As expected, my attention shifts constantly from Monk to QSSR but both are the same subject at the end of the day.

I’m also documenting my work with the goal of eventually publishing some article in the hobby press. The QSSR is also an occasion to re-explore the infamous Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway which is always a fantastic source of inspiration. When we think of granger lines, we generally think about the Prairies and the Midwest, but truth to be told the MMA lines in Southern Quebec were exactly the same, including the fantastic diversity of covered hoppers serving the dozens of feed mills and elevators of the area.

So in expectation of future publications, let’s look at some of the work done recently.

The feed mill concrete foundation and other details

Railfanning the old school way

The GE 45-tonner struggles to pull 3 loaded cars...

Hoppers as palimpsest showing their true color

Utter clutter!

Fiat Lux - Illuminating Monk Subdivision

I simply hate working in a dark room on an artistic project and it's why installing the correct lighting right at the beginning it one of my top priority, well before laying tracks. It seems to me that getting the correct lighting is an invitation to work on the layout and make progress.

Who wants to work in a dark corner?

However, adding lighting to a layout can be a very frustrating exercise and Internet is full of stories about this peculiar aspect of our hobby which is harder to control than we could think of. Finding the right amount of light, the correct color temperature, longevity and a reasonable price point are sometimes mutually exclusive or hard to get in one package. No wonder many use off the shelf solutions like LED "fluorescent" tubes, LED fixtures and many older systems that have been tried and tested for years. LED strips may be interesting, but choosing the right ones is sometimes quite difficult. A lot of stuff is on the market from reliable to unreliable sellers. I did several tests with under cabinet fixtures and wasn't impressed. The output was good and some had selectable color temperature, but the CRI (Color Rendition Index) was generally poor, making the old CN green paint looking drab...

With only one strip of Neutral White LED

For this reason, I started to look online at what type of LED strips professional photographers used for their DIY lighting rigs. Since the goal was to test, I purchased two LED strips from a Chinese vendor called DIY LED which had good reputation from varioys DIYers. Their LED cost more than the competition but they have much better characteristics as they cater to customers that require high CRI for photography and similar uses. Here are the specs of what I bought:

DIY LED U-HOME High CRI Ra 95+ LED Strip Lights SMD5630 Neutral White Nonwaterproof for DIY Video Light Studio Light

DIY LED U-Home High CRI Ra 97+ Daylight White 5600K SMD5630 DC12V Flexible LED Strip Light 5M 300LEDs 60LEDs/M 10mm Width for DIY Movie & Television Photography Lighting

When I tested them, I was surprised by their output, but also by the quality of their light. No longer my CN Green locomotives looked weird or reds look washed out. But that comes with more heat since the output is almost twice what you generally get.

My preference goes tot the Neutral White LED because it's a softer white. The Daylight White is much cooler yet still good. Don't forget Daylight White is not direct sunlight, but indirect (diffuse) sunlight you would get from a window facing north. Thus, it's why we often it's too blue because sunlight is yellower when you are exposed directly to it. In all honesty, I feel the perfect spot was blending both stripes together, but for my purpose, I stuck my Neutral White while keeping the door open to add another strip later.

I would say one strip is enough when your layout is about 16"-18" deep and the lighting is about 12"-14" over the surface. Over that, you will need two strips.

I also have space constraints. Indeed, the idea to build a layout between base and wall cabinets was nice but it was also very dark. Since vertical height was very small, I didn't really think through my design, but I knew a valence was out of the window. I thought lighting would be installed later on but decided to start with it before committing to anything. The LED strips were glued on aluminium channels which have a 45 degrees bevel. They are about 1/2" high, which saves a lot of space. They are made for LED strips and act as heat sink and yes, with the kind of LED I'm using, I can guarantee you it works and is required.

Aluminium channels used as a valence and heat sink

The aluminium channels also come with polycarbonate diffusers. If you add them, your lighting output drop a little bit, maybe 15%-25% and at that point, you really need two strips. The diffusers is handy if your light source is close to the subject because each individual LED cast it's own shadows, creating weird patterns on the backdrop. It may not be an issue on your layout, so test accordingly before committing.

With the polycarbonate diffuser installed

At the end of the day, I'm satisfied with the current lighting installation. It works well, the CRI is high and the work surface and backdrop are well lighted, which is perfect to do miniature work.

Ciment St-Laurent - GE 4Switcher

Ready to work!

After a long hiatus from proper prototype modelling, I'm back with the latest motive power addition to the layout, which is a Rapido DCC sound equipped GE 44-Ton locomotive. You have probably seen it more than once on previous post, sporting a factory painted blue livery that wasn't the most attractive. The big challenge would be to repaint the model in Ciment St-Laurent white and dark blue paint scheme as it appeared in the 1980s and 1990s.

The shell is easy to disassemble

First of all, let's talk about the Rapido model. Like many modellers, I'm wary of that brand and have virtually no trust in their quality control. The models are generally beautiful, but reliability may be an issue from loco to loco. However, I've been looking at this particular GE model development for years, starting with a visit at Amherst train show where I saw the preproduction models in operation and could take a look at the motorization. Let's just say it was promising given the crudeness of the Bachmann drive.

Remove 4 screws and you can remove the motorization easily

Fortunately for us, Rapido has done its homework and the new 44-tonner is cleverly designed. The snap-on motorized trucks are a clever design, the way the decoder and electronics are implemented too. 

The snap-on tracks are a very practical feature

As for disassembly, even if the instruction manual is full of poor taste humour, it is easy to do. Honestly, just that makes it a joint to repaint. Using a cotton bud (Q-tip), I was able to push the window glazing out of the frame without breaking anything prior to priming, masking and painting.

Remove the glazing with a light push with a Q-tip

However, let's address the elephant in the room. CSL had a GE 45-ton switcher, which is a smaller one. As I said in other blog post, we tried to use a Bachmann one and we felt it was unsatisfactory. Not a bad locomotive, but far too puny for our industrial needs.

The real CSL switcher was a later phase GE 45-tonner

Also, adding sound, DCC and sufficient weight in it was a fool's errand. Add to that Bachmann produce an earlier version. CSL switcher was a later design without side rods and with smoke stacks that were identical to a 44-tonner. Make what you want out of it, but it means that a 44-tonner was under certain circumstances, closer to the real locomotive than a 45-tonner.

Masking the blue stripe at the hood and cab bottom

Weathering process... in progress with lots of streaking

Before committing to paint, I designed custom decals for the cab. On prototype pictures, the locomotive was very dirty while the logo was on a clean white square. My understanding is they repainted the area many years later when CSL was upgraded in the early 1980s.

A tiny micro decoder with barely any space for auxiliary functions

I first disassembled the model completely, including the interior. Wheels were masked off and I primed the entire locomotive before applying a coat of Tamiya primer. A generous coat of Tru-Color Paint white was sprayed while the frame and trucks got a coat of dark blue. Window gaskets were painted black with a Sharpie oil paint marker. After dullcoating, the model was heavily weathered with oil paint washes and Pan Pastel.

The light pipe goes through the roof

A gloss coat was added on the cab side to apply the clean decals over the messy paint. At that point, I had to decided if I would have a cosmetic or functioning rotating beacon. I really like the one on Donohue's switcher, but soldering wires to the tiny decoder was a nerve wrecking decision. After consulting with Louis-Marie and Jérôme, it was decided to not add a LED. The beacon has a tiny plastic light pipe going through the cab, so if we ever feel like adding this feature, it ill be possible.

The new switcher really capture the prototype feel

At that point, the model was sealed with a last coat of AK ultra matte varnish, let to dry and assembled. If you ask me, after seeing the finished model on the layout, I have no regret using a 44-tonner instead of a 45-tonner. Since I took care to protect the wipers, the wheels and other electrical components, it still perform beautiful and I think it is bound to become a fan favorite on the layout given how Jérôme has taken a liking to it!

A hard working locomotive in Villeneuve yard