Abattoir Legrade as an Inglenook Layout

 

Hedley-Junction wouldn’t be Hedley-Junction without a good share of recycled and reheated content! On a more serious note, it makes sense to revisit ideas from time to time as new skills, knowledge and experience is acquired.

 

This time, we revisit an old favourite of mine called Abattoir Legrade which was a meat packing plant located near the actual D’Estimauville Avenue grade crossing in Quebec City. It was served by Quebec Railway Light and Power and CN. I don’t have the exact dates, but it was up and running during the 40s, 50s and 60s. A picture of the modernized plant in the 1960s shows a Canadian National 8-hatch reefer painted in the wet noodle scheme.

 

Abattoir Legrade in the 1950s

The interesting thing with Abattoir Legrade is the fact it was heavily served by rail given its footprint. They received coal, supplies and cattle by rail and shipped processed meat and animal greases by rail too. In fact, they also trucked a lot of products locally, which meant that both traffic where intertwined.

 

The building too was a nice little plant painted in white and heavily weathered. The overhanging part over the truck loading bays sported a billboard which was inspired by Disney’s Three Little Pigs. The sidings were surrounded by the plant and the cattle pens, creating an enclosure that was accessible by a gate in a chain-link fence.

 

In the past, when I tried to model that plant, I tried to be as close as possible to prototype. The results were interesting, but if not implanted on a larger layout, it was a serious waste of space. This time, I tried to make is as small as possible and self-contained (no cassette, no movable part). The footprint was guided by a typical Kallax shelving unit, about 60” by 15”.

 

First of all, I made some alteration to the prototype by not modelling the main line. It meant that I would need to add a siding to create storage space for switching purposes. At the end of the day, it was now an Inglenook Sidings layout which is a very well-known British switching puzzle (which is more sensible than the Timesaver). While it’s not my intention to use it has an Inglenook, I still thought it would be a good idea to follow its tried and true recipe for track length. All calculations would be based on using 40 feet cars and a GP9… very common rolling stock of the transition era.

 

60 inches is quite a cramped template and to get a 27 inches switching lead (1 loco + 3 cars), I decided to make it curves toward the backdrop and hide it a tree tunnel. My rationale was that having it disappears in the scenery would give a sense of going somewhere, of a larger world outside… a thing hard to achieve when your track goes straight toward the edge of the layout. One could hide a small switcher (a GE 4-ton, a SW or an S-2 there).

The design also relies on balancing a heavily built right side and a more natural left side. The curved lead also gives an impression of an industrial spur leaving the main line, which enhance the experience.

 

While the curve radius is quite tight at 15 inches only, it’s enough for the purpose and keep in mind absolutely no coupling or uncoupling happens there. If the footprint is slightly longer, let’s say maybe 2, 4 or even 6 inches more, it’s perfectly possible to make it broader.

 

Finally, an interesting point to underline is how the fence and grade crossing add a layer of interaction. Protecting the crossing and operating the gate take time and make a session feel longer and more relaxed. One could even add a derail, which would have been perfectly normal at such a location.

 

At 5 feet long, this layout packs a lot of interesting features without going overboard. It’s based on reality, offers a lot of kitbashing and scratchbuilding opportunities while providing a decent level of operation. Add to that the baseboard and trackage can be built quite fast without thinking about complicated wiring.  Truly an achievable layout in a small and manageable footprint.