Montreal & Southern Counties - A Small Railway to Model

 In 2018, George Riley and Otto Vondrak published a series of 9 articles in Railroad Model Craftsman urging us to Consider the Commuter. This series made a great deal of effort to underline the attractiveness of commuter and interurban railways of all era as worthy modelling projects. They also made it clear they could take very little space while yielding a quite substantial amount of operation. I was quite enthralled by that series and read it quite often over the years, trying to apply it to Quebec Railway Light and Power Company. As expected, it failed because I'm too much aware of that prototype to have a healthy distance to make the required compromises.

However, I know Montreal & Southern Counties Railway only from a handful of attractive photographs and a general idea of the line on the map. I thus have that critical distance required to make required compromises and strive to nail down the spirit of that line.

Using a few pictures from the internet, I was able to piece together something that could make sense, would be rational and small enough to fit a standard bedroom (in this case, an upper level over Monk Subdivision staging).

An achievable M&SC layout in a 10' x 7'6" room

The main goal would be to run a commuter or a small freight train from the terminal in downtown Montreal to the other terminal in Granby (in this case, I've used Marieville as the defacto terminal because I find it more scenic). A small passing track is added between both location to create a meeting place, somewhere where trains stop to add spatial and time. 

Montreal terminal in 1954 (credit: trainweb.org)

The first scene is Montreal in a very simplified manner. I only cared about providing the runaround track, a siding to park equipment and a small two track freight yard to do some train building on the layout. The station is based on the real M&SC terminal that still stand to this day and was an exquisite brick structure that can be built full scale. Surround industrial and commercial brick buildings add a sense of urbanity. The entire scene is thus framed by an interlocking tower and the terminal, making it a railway pocket in a dense urban setting that isn't that different from New York City ones.

The entire terminal circa 1948 (credit: Canadian Pacific Archives)

Montreal McGill Terminal circa 1910 (credit: Library & Archives Canada)

Since Montreal is an island, I put the Richelieu river as a scenic divider between the metropolis and the so-called Southern Counties. People will say I'm completely mad to blend together the mighty St. Lawrence and the calm Richelieu, but I personally feel it's alright and the long Richelieu bridge had some real charm that set the place. In this case, since space is at a premium, the bridge would have about 5 short 50ft steel deck spans on a curved piece of track to give a sense of grandeur and distance. This is also the perfect place to railfan you trains.

The next scene would be based on Ste-Angèle where a small flag stop/depot existed near a rural road and which was framed by two beautiful mansard roof houses, one which served as an inn and brought life to the area. I don't believe a passing track existed there, but I don't care at all since it's irrelevant to the layout's goals. These houses were framed by tall trees which help to divided the layout in different scenic units to make it look bigger. All structures would be kitbashed, but since there aren't a lot of them, it would be quite easy to achieve.

Ste-Angèle in 1955 (credit: Joseph Testagrose Collection)

We then enter a wide curve crossing vast fields typical of Southern Quebec. I would imagine a very far away horizon to give it great depth. Think about Tom Johnson's old Indiana Northern Railroad layout.

After the rural scene, we enter "downtown" Marieville, a sweet little town sporting a neat and distinctive late 19th century two storey depot. It is indeed the main feature of that place, with the passing track/runaround a small team track serving the local industries such as a feed mill that can be modelled if one wishes it. The scene is very railroady with tracks, a long platform, a parking lot and some gravel patches around the team track. Main street runs behind the depot where neat wooden townhouses and small shops gives a sense of a thriving community sustained by the rails. Imagine also lush trees and overhead catenaries framing the scene and giving it personality. That's how I envision Marieville: simple, yet utterly relevant!

Marieville, QC in 955 (Credit: Novak/Joseph Testagrose Collection)

Operation would be rather simple, implying small communter trains made of a diesel (probably a F-M H16-44 or a MLW RS-18 or even a RS-3) pulling a baggage/RPO car and a coach. Electric interurbans could also be featured, pulling a typical milk car or even Budd cars. The idea is to hint at changes, at mutations, at that very moment the traditional traction line becomes diesel, just before disappearing. A sort of swan song.

Small freight trains, made of 2 or 3 cars and a caboose, could be pulled by the same locomotives. They would perform simple yet immersive task at both terminals. Trust me, it may sound simple, but one can get very busy if working slowly and with a modicum of prototype practice. Also, if you want to run small steamers, be my guest!

Such is the M&SCR layout I propose, grounded and inspired both by Riley and Otto's articles and a handful of evocative pictures. This layout also shines because it is close and personal. Both terminals are located in alcoves for an immersive experience, you never see the entire layout from one point and each modelling subject is both mundane and yet a challenge. Certainly, if you recognize a bit of Trevor Marshall's Port Rowan in this layout, you won't be wrong!