Donnacona - The Conventional Approach

Indeed, I made a bold decision with this diorama. However, another option on the table was making it a fully-fledged North American switching layout. I take some time to share it here to show you how we would typically approach this project if it were to be published in some magazine or railroad planning book. It is not per se a bad design at all, but it tells another story and frame the subject in a way I didn't like. Also, I know I had no appetite for yet another paper mill layout as I am already building one with the club.

Donnacona and the river (credit: Yvan Déry)

However, I believe many people could benefit from a few ideas posted here as it propose a very interesting mill on a narrow shelf. It could be built as drawn or merged into a much larger layout. But first of all, I'll take no credit for that plan since I've built upon ideas already modelled by Yvan Déry, a modeller from Portneuf area who made a rendition of the entire subdivision in HO scale. Among it, was a replica of Donnacona including the pulpwood yard by St. Lawrence river which provided me with initial inspiration.

Another shape, another story

In this conventional design version, the layout would be L-shaped, about 10' x 10'. On the right leg, the mill is built as I did with the diorama version, but it would have a much longer switching lead connecting to the main line, by the depot. One leg would be industrial, the other one much more natural, with the depot acting as a pivot.

The old CNoR main line would be modelled, including a siding where inbound and outbound cars from the paper mill would be set. Another siding, by the river would hold pulpwood cars to be unloaded as was the case from the prototype.

Operation wouldn't be different to what I already have in mind. The locomotive would be stored by the depot, travel the main line, pick up a few cars and come back to the mill. The idea being that the locomotive can travel several times across the entire layout to provide visual interest.

While the diorama version put a lot of emphasis on the industrial canyon, this one puts forward the riverside nature of the mill, with a large sweeping panorama giving a sense of place and scale. The depot would act as our human connection to the scene, a role that is imparted on the office building in diorama version.

I do like this plan, but it doesn't fit my idea of a canvas. Too large, I feel it doesn't work as a small switching layout approached as a piece of art. The mill itself captures my interest and the idea of intricate brick structures isn't alien to it.

On the other hand, it shows a same prototype can be translated in various scale and can dramatically change in terms of tone and ambiance give the focus we choose. There is now better option here, but it's a matter of knowing what you want to achieve and selecting the right approach. Yvan Déry chosed the more conventional approach with his mill and it was a perfect choice given is large layout based on substantial operation. His way to replicate the dark and menacing skies over the river, the quaint little depot and the pulpwood siding should be enough to prove us it was well done.

But I don't want to replicate what others have done, so I went forward with my own personal approach.

In the next installment, we shall deal with the diorama and how it is developed from sketches using an iterative process. It is a mix between sculpture, theater, architecture and historical investigation, which isn't generally how we approach a layout. It leads to a non-linear building process which wouldn't be really suitable with a large layout, but which can be possible when dealing with a smaller footprint... here again proving it is indeed a canvas.