2024 in Hindsight

2024 has been a weird year, sometimes being absolutely wonderful and other times, less than stellar. Health issues, excruciating projects at work and several other sad things made it quite desperate at times, but there is also the nice events that made that year still a fascinating time to be alive whatever the hurdles. Speaking of which, there should be seen as motivational because they are an invitation to lift up to the occasions, be better and often, to discover we can do a lot of unexpected things.

In terms of model railroading, I did very little with the Murray Bay Subdivision, being merely a custodian of something bigger than I. For a year, we struggled to find the motivation to work on the cement plant and I must admit I've reached that point where I'm disgusted at the thought of creating a photo backdrop... Yes, such a small hurdle, yet one that I haven't found the courage to jump over.

Meanwhile, I built a small switching layout for my office space which is just another variation of the QSSR theme. I really like it and while I haven't switched it for a while, it is the backdrop I use daily to stage my rolling stock and do photoshoots. I will probably improve the scenery soon as a way to experiment what I want to do with Monk Subdivision.

As for Monk Subdivision, it has been a hell of a roller coaster ride! I built the staging room and benchwork for two staging levels, then demolished the original road bed to rebuild it according to plans... only to get rid of it all by the end of the year. A drain pipe replacement forced me to demolished a lot of benchwork and forced me to rethink my plans. To reach my goals, I simply eliminated the two levels and went back to my original Armagh and Langlois vision. As they say, God in His Heaven, All is Right with the World... let's hope it's alright!

Joke aside, these hurdles made me strive for something more coherent, more simpler and the streamlined project is much more interesting to work on. So much so that I was able to finish the drawings for the station, the feed mill and the large enclosed water tank, which will probably be build this year.

With my motivation back, I also embarked on a program to build and complete the Monk fleet, in particular the 1960s-1970s one. New higher quality models were acquired and after a while, I decided to subcontract the decoder installation to my friend David Mira-Landry who is better than me at that and which does very professional work. Meanwhile, many new locomotives were added, including several big MLWs from Bowser, a few Rapido MLWs, Budd and many others. I'm really glad that the classic fleet is almost done and now I'm starting to add better 1950s models too.

In December, I also decided to start working seriously on my freight cars. I had dozens of boxes and unfinished projects laying around and several drawers of decals. I told myself, enough is enough and built, kitbashed and painted about 20 cars over the last few weeks, many of which have been documented on this blog. Several others are on my workbench right now and my goal is to continue assembling and painting cars on a regular basis. Currently, I've done all my flat cars and gondolas, one stock cars and I'm currently working on a Russell snow plow and the big step in preparation is completing one for all my comprehensive reefer fleet which is quite huge. Several are already on my workbench and I'm developing decals for most of them. More on that later in this article. Suffice to say, I found my groove and when I see a project in my drawers that can be done swiftly, I sure do it!

Another nice part of the year was the continuous conversation with Chris Mears, which helped us to explore ideas, concepts and many whimsical train distractions. One among them was that idea to build a 1870s layout with classic retooled Bachmann 4-4-0s... I'm seriously tempted to do it and once Monk has reached a certain level of functionality, I could easily see myself trying that out.

Other achievements included being published in the excellent Model Railway Companion book published by Wild Swan in the UK and compiled by the always inspiring James Hilton. A big thanks to him for inviting me to contribute as I didn't expect to be featured on the cover!

Scott Thornton was also another key player in this modelling year by inviting me to the St. Louis RPM this summer. It was my first time participating in such an event. I've done it with other hobbies, but it was the first time for model trains. As always, I'm not a dealers' room guy, but rather one that enjoy clinics and giving them. I'll have to figure out new subjects! Scott and Lonnie were wonderful hosts and I still extent my thanks to them! As for Clark Propst, he brightened the day with is whimsical and colorful thoughts! It was a pleasure to meet him in the fresh with other talented modellers!

Finally, I've always given some thought about what I would like to do with Ste. Anne's Car Shops. I didn't commit that much to it and I clearly see that 3D printed steam parts aren't that much in demand except for a few parts. Also, I'm not big on printing at home for obvious reasons linked to health hazard and handling chemicals when cleaning after the process. However, I have drawn dozens of decal artwork ranging from modern CN to old time cars and American reefers. I wonder if I won't try my hand at it and publish them on my own. I'm confident enough in the quality of my work and Bill Brillinger does a wonderful job at printing them. So if I have some free time, I could see myself making this a dream come true.

Almost done with the plow!

And to clear the way to the new year, I close the circle by kitbashing and weathering another Walthers CN Russell snow plow! Have a great modelling year and don't shy away from building something, even if you have to start again... 90% of the fun is doing it! Enjoy, take care and may health be with you to go forward with your dreams!