Railway Operations Under The Sun

Clermont yard as rarely shown in full action

Hard to believe yesterday was our first "real" operation session since probably last December. COVID-19 kind of threw a monkey wrench at us and when lockdown rules eased out, our minds were focused on improving the way we display the layout.

A few cars, a switcher, a derail and you've got a story going on

Now, all the fluorescent fixtures are in place, which creates an even light all over the place. It is great from a technical point of view, but certainly looks industrial and not artistic. Fortunately, Louis-Marie is building a set of baffles that will help to conceal the fixtures and reduce glare. But with that said, I would not be surprised a LED spot here and there at key locations will be required to provide more dramatic effects. Good candidates for such an improvement would be Rivière Malbaie, the grade crossing in Clermont, and probably the yard throat in Wieland.

Simplicity can tell a lot is done with subtlety.

However, before doing that, we need to address the big challenge of designing and installing the photo backdrop. All elements have been assembled and now only the final touches are required to make it work. The goal of the backdrop is not only to provide a prototypically correct environment for our trains, but also a way to create a sense of depth. This depth is required to prove Murray Bay Subdivision is an isolated line running up a large valley. It will probably be quite a challenge, but we are ready for it.