The Joy of DC

For a long time, I never cared about mechanics or wiring. It was something I couldn’t be bothered with and I always subcontracted it to my brother when I was a kid and friends later on. When something didn’t work properly, I would sideline it on the shelves and not care anymore. That approach gave me the leisure to focus my efforts on model building, scenery and planning. Sure, an attractive proposition. However, comes a time when friends aren’t there, or you need things to work right now or worse, the said friends won’t have the dedication to work on some weird proposition.

Since I’ve been working on Monk yard and other modules, I’ve had to become better at soldering and wiring. I’m not very good, but at least, I’ve reached a decent level where my work is passable and reliable. And if I mess something up, I know why and how to fix it.

The same wasn’t always true with locomotives. I would bash them, mess the electrical stuff accidently and get a poor running engine out of what used to be a decent model. Not a promising proposition when you wish to have good-looking custom locomotives to play with. Over the last few years, I’ve been watching a lot of people online that thinker with very old models, clean them, lube them, tune them and make them run better. Most of these people, including Darth Santa Fe, generally prefer to work with DC models. I use to laugh a little bit at that, thinking they did so since they were more interested in mechanical stuff than operation. But the reality is that you need to know that mechanical stuff first before dabbling with DCC.

And there is another aspect to that: the sheer simplicity of just having to lube a model, run it and have fun. DCC has become a real pain in the rear. Dealing with dirty track, poor sound, cutoffs and programming is extremely frustrating. This is something for which I currently have no patience. Also, as I often mentioned, I have a lot of old models that are DC and since they are oddballs, it makes no sense dumping $200 dollars of electronics in them. For this reason, I have embarked in fine tuning my DC stuff and the 4’ x 8’ layout is perfect for that.

On Sunday, I decided to work on a very old project. My pair of custom detailed Athearn blue box SW1200. I purchased the models back in high school around 1999 to replicate Chemin de fer Charlevoix switchers. However, this project never went nowhere and soon, as a teenager, I custom painted them in CN colors. During the pandemic, I dug out these poorly painted models, stripped them to their bare plastic and completely rebuilt them. It was a highly satisfying project, but I knew the drive was good… or so I thought.

Rebuilding my Athearn SW1200 electric motor

Fast forward a few years ago when I purchased replacement motors from Ebay. These were nice can motors that ran very well and relatively silently. I tried to replace a motor in one of the SW1200, but the surgery didn’t turn great when I grafted the flywheels. They weren’t balanced at all and made the drive jerky.

Last Sunday, I decided to simply rebuild the original drives and improve them. The original Athearn motor was broken into parts. I couldn’t reassemble it because the magnets touched the rotor. After some verification, I found out two plastic tabs that kept the magnets at the right distance were broken. Some styrene replacement tabs were glued in place and the motor was reassembled. Testing proved it was running as good as the untouched motor of the second unit. I was extremely proud to have salved a motor. After cleaning the commutator, adjusting the brush and oiling the bearings, it was back in action.

Cleaned, lubed and tuned trucks ready for reassembly

I then turned my attention to the trucks. Many sideframes had broken pins. I glued them back, inserted a phosphore bronze pin in them and put a nice coat of flat black on them. When I opened the gear tower and truck assembly, I discovered these parts had never been lubed, except for oil in the wrong place. No wonder they sounded like a coffee grinder! So everything went to the ultrasonic bath for degreasing and cleaning. I had purchased new Athearn nickel plated wheels years ago, so I proceeded to replace the sintered wheel with these new set. The trucks were lubed and assembled, making them running much smoother than ever before.

A coat of satin black on the frame really makes a difference

The last step was too degrease and repaint the metal chassis with satin black paint. I used professional grade paint and let it cure for at least 24 hours. At this point, I have refurbished trucks, well-maintained motors and a nice chassis. Everything will need to be reassembled and new LED lighting installed. These locomotives will probably never get a DCC decoders, but at least now they will finally run on a layout after being shelf queens for over 27 years. They may no longer be state of the art models, but this is not the point.

I’m getting more confident in my work and this is what matters. Developing mechanical skills is as important as the rest. I too often neglected that side of the hobby and paid the price. There is a lot of satisfaction tinkering with an older model and bringing it to its best condition. I’m discovering a new facet to this hobby and it’s much more relaxing and enjoyable that I ever thought. Somewhat, DC is really relaxing in a world were electronics, sound and complicated stuff is no longer a novelty or making any sense.

What I learned from the Merkiomen

No cool pictures in this blog, but a few thoughts about my recent adventures in model railroading.

The Merkiomen experiment has been short but eventful... even fruitful. While I knew I wouldn't complete it, it was a fascinating project to learn about others, myself, railroading and modelling. I didn't want to be a copycat, but reverse engineering someone else layout was a big lesson because it forced me to do model railroading in a way that isn't mine. I was literally in the skin of someone else, trying to understand what forces were at play when it came to the world. It was going back to these days when the only knowledge we had of layouts were a track plan and a few pictures in a hobby magazine. Gazing for hours, trying to figure out every single details out of that minimalistic content.

Among the most enduring aspect of this project was the discovery of how fun it was to revisit old classic model kits and push them to the limit. It started with a Walthers speeder shed, then Atlas shanties, Life-Like trackside structures and even the venerable Plasticville freight shed. But as good as these models were... I was drifting. Drifting from the East Coast toward the West Coast. For some strange reasons, my modelling took a UP/SP/ATSF flavour I didn't expect in my wildest dreams. And sure enough, a large BLI ATSF 4-8-4 made its entrance in my life for free.

ATSF Super Power is... cool.

I couldn't believe Ebay would fail me so spectacularly. A month ago, I ordered a large BLI steamer from a well known seller. Everything went smooth until the parcel stopped moving, was labelled misrouted and never got updated. After almost two weeks without any news, I contacted the seller who referred me to Ebay's International shipping. Sure I did and in a matter of 12 hours, I learned my package was crushed and destroyed during transportation, but that I would get a full refund for my purchase. While a little bit sad, I thought to myself: Oh well! Nothing lost and back to Monk Subdivision... until two days later there was a parcel in front of my door in pristine condition. A little puzzled, I opened the box, expecting a wreck and discovered the locomotive was there and in excellent condition. Hard to say what I think of Ebay. In some way, I can't say I'm not happy getting the locomotive for free... but I wonder if they really tried contacting the courier at all. After all, it was indeed misrouted, not crushed.

However, having the loco in my hands and a large 4' x 8' plank ready for a new project to replace the Merkiomen, it was a logical choice to try something West Coast once for all. While fiddling with ideas, I came back to my high school friend who had an old plywood layout. It was probably some variation of an Atlas Snap-Track design. One little yard on one side and a station and an engine terminal on the other. Diminutive, but highly practical and with a good balance of realistic operation opportunities.

The Merkiomen taught me I kind of hate straight tracks parallel to the fascia. I have the same aversion toward the yard in Villeneuve. Could I funk the little layout up just as I did with my Stanstead module? Implementing diagonals and sweeping curves to break the illusion of going around? Well, I think it's possible!

Curves and diagonals create a dynamic scene

Finally, the last lessons of the Merkiomen are very practical and basics. The kind of things you learn again and again, while trying to debunk them. All of them ensure your trains run smooth and you aren't frustrated, so let's list a few of these things the next layout will implement or avoid:

- Curved turnouts are a no go as much as you can. Prototype railroads rarely use them and for a good reason: they induce geometries that locomotives don't like. You can get away with it when running diesels but steamers absolutely hate them. So save you some trouble and stay away from them except if you want to handlay them and control every aspect of geometry. Your mileage may vary, I've decided that I will not use any that aren't PECO #7 curved turnouts.

-Easements and superelevation are your friend, really. No one should lay curves without them. I was able to get a BLI 4-8-4 to navigate without too much issues a 20" curve that was laid properly. Running through the forsaken cruved Walthers turnout was another thing though...

-No more crossings for me... Seeing trains wobble over them is aesthetically unpleasing. Not for me.

-No straight tracks parallel... already talked about that point, but it's never back to repeat again and again. The goal is to see you trains under their best angle and having them on curves or diagonals is much more impressed and visually pleasing.

-Never use turnouts with hinged points. They are electrical nightmare and even if you solder jumper wires, they are still crap. I'm starting to see the virtue of using handlaid turnouts. As for Walthers and Shinohara turnouts, I used to hate them... now I hate them with a passion. Not for me!

I already started working on the new layout. It will reuse a lot of old plastic structures I've been restoring and Peco code 83 #6 unifrog turnouts with solid rail points. The concept will be based of ATSF in the early 1950s, loosely inspired by Raton Pass, with big steamers and classic diesels. I had some fun finalizing some details using Windows Copilot and it was surprisingly helpful. Sure, it doesn't design for you, but it's quite excellent to sift through old forums and historical societies. I felt is was a neat sounding board to test ideas and refine them. It's also a practical way to generate consists and switching lists for a simple operating scheme. A word of caution, I felt it was much less reliable when trying it on Monk. Copilot was clearly regurgitating information from Hedley Junction in a garbled way. ATSF being far more documented, the information was much more reliable and it shown.

More about that project in another post, but I'm quite fascinated at the idea of modelling something I never did.

Building my own version of Rob Mountenay's Merkiomen Valley Branch

This year has been extremely productive in terms of model railroading. I’ve been building stuff almost non-stop since January, hopping from one of my favourite theme to another. I’m glad most Monk structures are done and almost completed (except the feed mill), I had a blast weathering modern hopper cars and finishing the QSSR after more than a decade and now elected to do something I call the freedom layout which is a little outside of my usual purview.

I decided to build what I call a freedom layout. Something I didn’t design and felt offered great opportunity to simply practice my art. The idea is to remove the hours, weeks, months or even years of agonizing over a track plan. The reality if things is that railroads are codified things. A siding will always be a siding, a passing track will always be a passing track. Stations are generally always build following the same generic rules. A coal dealer and a fuel distributor are similar across the continent. They vary in details and implementation, but it’s all a flavour over an underlaying theme.

 

I generally love, as an architect, to be able to say the track plan is my own design. That I controlled all aspects of layout building, but sometimes, you just need to let it go. The Monk subdivision is my personal take on a nice prototype-oriented layout. However, there are all kind of things I want to build which cannot fit that prototype. Also, I have a lot of rolling stock without a purpose, including all the Harlem Station cars. So I thought to myself, while looking at 4’ x 8’ plans when exploring Quebec & Gosford concepts, that maybe I could try something that free my mind from planning and focus only on executing and exploring my personal creative process. No more analysis paralysis.

 

For some reasons, Robert Mountenay’s Merkiomen Branch caugh my eyes. The layout was well balanced, keeping all the strength of the Alkali Central, but making it more universal. I particularly appreciated the two towns, the scenic rural side and the more urban one. Each scene was well composed and used interesting structures that would make sense together. I really liked it and thought it would be a neat opportunity. The layout would be set in my old kitchen that is bound to be restored to its 19^th century appearance when it was a spacious 16’ x 17’ living room.

 

Lance Mindheim had pioneered that idea of a public gallery of small layouts into a neat space and I thought it would be perfect. In fact, since a year, the Stanstead module has been exhibited in that room and everybody visiting the house loved it. Having the trains in a public room, not in a corner of the basement, removed the creepiness associated with model railroading and made people appreciate the intricate work and the realistic appearance. At the end of the day, my hobby finally got its recognition as art and not just as some trivial pursuit (even if it is!). People may say all they want, but modelling railroading generally captivate most peoples.

 

So, I made up my mind of building a replica of Rob Mountenay's Merkiomen. I had the material in the basement and enough space in the old living room. I had many other reasons for that too; one being to have a neat loop to test, break in and run locomotives, an excuse to reuse all my American-themed buildings and rolling stock, and first and foremost, the simple joy of building a classic generic layout with a cheesy track plan yet trying my best to use it as a canvas to express my intentions in my own personal style.

 

My first impressions were that working with someone else's plan was a little bit weird. As I mentioned to Chris Mears, I felt like an imposter at times, and on other moments, it felt like replicating a “prototype”. Yet, with my experience acquired over the years, it's like running on a perfectly well-maintained track field after having trained over rough forest trail. You just bolt from the depart line and you are at your best!

 

After a day, I reached that level of completion

That doesn't mean I didn't add my touch to Robert’s plan. I've been optimizing the layout with #6 turnouts for sidings and was able to use two #8 on the mainline/interchange, which means I will be able to run some larger locomotives and rolling stock if wanted or needed for programming and break-in period. Large 24’’/28’’ Walthers curved turnouts were also used, which made the track flow nicely. I also reorganized the passing track so it would no longer require weird moves on the interchange track.

 

Construction and track laying was straightforward and in a matter of a few days, all the basic stuff was in place. The fun could start and that meant building the structures. Early on, I decided to set the layout somewhere around Pennsylvania. I’ve had the chance to railfan the area twice and kind of knew it a little bit. My 1950s rolling stock being mainly PRR, Erie and Reading, it was an easy and obvious choice that overlapped with Robert’s own era and prototype. For some reason, the Reading was extremely attractive to me because, as a kid, I always gazed at Bachmann’s yellow boxes of the late 1970s and early 1980s, obsessing over that Reading I10sa Consolidation. That was the fist HO model of a large steamer I had ever seen and it made a durable impression. Also, Reading and PRR structures in rural areas shared many characteristics and a somewhat similar paint scheme. That would make my life easier. Add to that attractive Reading coal hoppers and I was hooked about the idea of restoring and improving an old Bachmann Plus 2-8-0 as the main star of the layout.

 

This 1950s from John Diobzko's collection provided inspiration

After a while, while searching over the internet for suitable prototypes, I discovered by sheer luck many old pictures that clearly were Robert Mountenay’s source of inspiration. It was fun to see these structures and how he reinterpreted them. At that point, I knew that I would be replicating the same prototypes he used, but doing it my own way. I would redraw my own set of architectural drawings from the prototype pictures, select the building materials and do it my own way. Once again, it was all about applying my own artistic flair to something already existing. Robert’s work was simply making the selection for me, but the final editing would be my own take. So far, I completed the coal trestle by reinterpreting the old Mil-Scale Jacobs Coal Co. kit used by Robert. I found the instructions online and adapted them so the result work look better and more prototypical (more on that specific structure later!). I’m currently doing the same with the stations, the feed mill and the lumber supplier.

A low-quality picture from an auction site provided enough information (source: WorthPoint)

Elsewhere, I’m thinking about making different choices. By example, I don’t like the Easton Mill which always struck me as caricatural and suffering from poor proportions. I will replace it with a wooden clad or asbestos clad small creamery that fits better the theme and provides a more balanced scene. Once again, I’m making my own drawing based of well-known kits on the market, but giving them my own twist.

At the end of the day, using Robert’s layout as a plan enables me to dip further into scratchbuilding and personalising items. The time saved from planning is reinvested in crafting the elements one by one with deeper scrutiny, which provides a certain level of freedom. The same applies with the structures. Since I'm not replicating a specific prototype, it is all about capturing the essence of the place in a realistic and informed manner. Al that said, I hope this little side project will provide even more experience when I will be tackling the Monk Subdivision.

Silence, work and more...

I’ve been quite quiet over the last few months. Health issues and exhaustion at work pushed me to take a break. Surprisingly, it translated into an extremely efficient period for my modelling work. I built several structures for Monk, experimenting new techniques, but also weathering several freight cars and even restarted my scenery work on the QSSR module. We also have greatly progressed with  All in all, a fantastic output, but for some reasons, I was not motivated to write about it. It was not a question of not sharing, which I will do in due time, but to immerse myself into a positive activity without any obligation. It was also an occasion to experiment with points of view and photography. As expected, my attention shifts constantly from Monk to QSSR but both are the same subject at the end of the day.

I’m also documenting my work with the goal of eventually publishing some article in the hobby press. The QSSR is also an occasion to re-explore the infamous Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway which is always a fantastic source of inspiration. When we think of granger lines, we generally think about the Prairies and the Midwest, but truth to be told the MMA lines in Southern Quebec were exactly the same, including the fantastic diversity of covered hoppers serving the dozens of feed mills and elevators of the area.

So in expectation of future publications, let’s look at some of the work done recently.

The feed mill concrete foundation and other details

Railfanning the old school way

The GE 45-tonner struggles to pull 3 loaded cars...

Hoppers as palimpsest showing their true color

Utter clutter!

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!

Drummondville Station - A Scratchbuilt Clone

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery the old saying says, so imagine my surprise this morning when Jeff Boudreau from the Drummondville Railway Modellers Association (AMFD) wrote to tell me they had almost completed their version of the Drummondville VIA station based on my sets of drawings and 3D printed parts.

Drummondville station almost done (credit: AMFD)

Many years ago, I scratchbuilt that very station for a friend as a personal challenge. Intricate brick work, custom details, very large size, etc. It was a beast to build and when finished, the AMFD members certainly wanted it... or should I say, a copy of it. Back then, I sent them my modelling notes from my blog and 3D printed parts. They have a few very talented builders in their club, but it seems the task was quickly seen as a pretty involved project and was put rightly so on the back burner. They had measured the building just in case, but the time wasn't right to move forward. At that point, I thought their project was DOA but never underestimate modellers who need their signature piece.

Marcel Haché working on his masterpiece (credit: AMFD)

Fast forward few years and Marcel Haché, as I did many years ago, took up the challenge and tackled the beast. Not only did he do a fantastic job, but he also managed to fool me believing for a few seconds it was my own station. The colors, the details, the way it was assembled and even the blinds in the windows! He outdid himself and I'm really glad that the club now has the centerpiece it always wanted. On a side note, I'm pretty sure Marcel modelled the interior because Jeff Boudreau once told me they had surveyed the partition walls in case their would replicate the station in HO.

The station on the layout (credit: AMFD)

That was probably the most fantastic early Christmas gift I could hope for!!

Quebec & Gosford Sidetracking

Those who know Chris Mears and discuss with him frequently have come to fear him as he can elicit fascinating conversations that literally derail your train of thoughts toward the deepest fiber of your soul. Such a thing occurred to me recently when our discussion took a tangent toward the 1870s-1890s and the elegant 4-4-0s of the era. Add the nice Bachmann retooled 4-4-0 in the game and various old time equipment kitbashes and you have a recipe for disaster. Or should I say, a joyful recipe for fanning all over the fundamentals of railroading. But honestly, nothing is new about this discussion since it has been going on over and over since I was thinking about doing Temiscouata, then Stanstead which I always wanted to expand but with is too big for my layout room.

 

Bachmann retooled 4-4-0 (credit: Bachmann)

I can’t recall what sparked the exchange of thoughts, but for some reason, I ended up digging into the venerable Quebec & Gosford Railway which was the first railway built in Quebec City between 1869 and 1870 and operated from 1870 to 1872. Ill-fated because it adopted the wooden rail system developed by the American engineer Hulbert to save cost and was plagued by 4% grades, it was almost a financial success and would later be redeveloped and entirely rebuilt when the company was reorganized under the new name of Quebec & Lake St. John Railway. Unsurprisingly enough, Horace Jansen Beemer would be the man that would save the day and accomplish this undertaking.

 

Original Quebec & Gosford plans (credit: BAnQ)

The only picture of Q&G under construction circa 1871 (credit: Collection Marc Carette)

While only a very few pictures and drawings exist of the Quebec & Gosford, some contemporary descriptions and company documents give a good idea of what it was. Hadn’t it been plagued by the evitable engineering mistakes, the line would have been quite successful as demonstrated by the impressive earnings the company was able to generate during the few months of the year it operated.

 

The engine house at Rivière-à-Pierre on Q&LStJ (credit: BAnQ)

Q&LStJ, the spiritual descendant of Q&GR is much more documented and nice photographs of the era documenting its construction gives an excellent idea of what was happening in the backwoods of French Canada in the 1870s. One thing is sure, small shacks, settlers’ homes, railway structures and sawmills were quickly dotting an otherwise pristine forested land. And in that archetypical Canadian landscape, we know that the first Quebec & Gosford locomotives, bought new from Rhode Island Locomotive Works were working hard with their colorful paint, their brass appliances and gilded ornamentation. That contrast, between state-of-the-art machinery and the frontier is always appealing, hence why so many modellers are entrenched in that era that surprisingly never gets the coverage it warrants.

The second bridge over Jacques-Cartier river in 1879 (credit: BAnQ)

All these thoughts make sense when you understand what I tried to achieve with the demonstration Stanstead layout that served the purpose to prove that early pre-nationalization Canadian railways were worth modelling and fascinating. Each time I go to the basement, I see the module and its beautiful landscape and can’t help to gaze upon it, sometimes running even a modern locomotive on it.

A typical settlement along the line (credit: BAnQ)

I’ve always wondered if this layout could be expanded, and this is certainly the case. However, I have hardly the space in the house to currently do that. Nevertheless, I recently set a shelf over Monk Subdivision staging room to set a Kato Unitrak testing and programming track. As Chris mentioned, it was in some sense, the start of a layout. When I tried to run a pair of Bachmann Brill trolleys, I dug out my Montreal & Southern Counties track plan tailored for that room and looked at ways to improve upon it. From that point, I was doomed.

Q&LStJ No.5 was similar to Jacques Cartier (credit: BAnQ)

For some reasons, I revived my old Rivarossi Genoa 4-4-0 and seeing it runnings around the room was awesome… Some kind of revelation about the nature of what that shelf could become. I loved it and decided to start sketching based on descriptions of the first railways around Quebec City. At some point, the descriptions of our first locomotive, the “Jacques Cartier” and its sisters “Quebec” and “Gosford” came back. The original terminal in downtown Quebec City (St. Sauveur borough) was spartan with laconic descriptions of a house serving as a station, a reservoir, an engine house and other temporary structures and I suspect it was the same about Gosford, albeit much more simpler if newspaper accounts of the era are to be trusted.

Anyway, I find that era both fascinating and providing a plethora of small and achievable challenges. Building Stanstead was the epitome of "Model Railroading is Fun" and as mentioned, I always wanted to expand it to provide some running length to the trains. Time to move forward by making my railroading small and achievable again, and that includes Monk. I always perform better on more focussed projects that stand out and it was always my desire to continue my journey documenting what modelling pre-nationalization railways in Canada is all about. Doing frontier stuff that happened 150 years ago in what are now Quebec City northern suburbs is both thrilling and fascinating.

Monk Subdivision Track Plan Revision

I haven't written that much lately, or should I say, I didn't publish a lot of articles event if a string of first drafts are waiting in Blogger to be finalized. But they probably won't be published anyway because this hobby is about passion and when you write about a passion, it is often raw emotions captured on the spot and it's hard to come back a month or two later to alter them. Among them is a neat article about visiting hobby shops in Japan and the Kato Hobby Center last September and I think it's worth to be published. Another one is dating back to last fall when I railfanned Monk Subdivision again to shot photobackdrops.

Often, just having to edit and upload pictures on Blogger, which is very old technology by current standards, it enough to cut my desire to publish... we get lazy isn't it!

That said, I have continued modelling recently, in all directions to be honest. One thing is about completing the DCC sound installation in Monk CN fleet from the 1960s to the 1970s. Among them is a pair of Atlas C424 which will pull The Cabot passenger train and which my friend David Mira-Landry installed LokSound in them. It was great to spend an evening with him and seeing his workflow and tricks to get it done efficiently.

Atlas C424s going through decoder installation and detailing

Also, I had a lot of deep conversations about modelling and trains in general with good old Chris Mears. I wish these could be published as they are. Sometimes, I feel he is that reassuring voice that both listen and suggest. With him, no rocks are left unturned and this is a blessing. We have explored recently our deeply ingrained love of old time 4-4-0 from the 1860s-1870s but also thought about Monk once again. Jérôme and Louis-Marie also gave sound advices of keeping it simple and they are probably right. "Making it run" is probably the recurring theme and I agree. So let's dive into the future of Monk Subdivision.

Let's be blunt, I didn't work on it at all since I completed the staging first level and that gave me time to rethink the layout. Recently, to be able to run and tune my locomotives and cars, I added a Kato Unitrack loop in the staging room. It's at eye level and runs currently on DC only for older locomotives or those without decoder. I've ran a few trains since it has been put up there and that has helped me to better grasp what I'm doing in the basement. It was supposed to be fun and all about scenery, yet it degenerated into an intricate mechanical and technological issue that seems to never be resolved. What can be done?

A Kato Unitrack loop provide an excellent test bed

First, I took most of my high quality modern passenger cars (Rapido, Walthers, etc.) and tried to run them on the staging curved turnouts. It was a nightmare. Half of them don't negotiate the 28" radius curve properly. Sure, the Walthers turnouts are unforgiving, but it's ludicrously impossible to run a passenger train on the staging. Even on the flextrack, it barely works. The culprit is a mix of poorly design underframes, trucks and details. The Rapido Supercontinental cars (first release) are junk, even the couplers are operating poorly due to the diaphragm. Hard to believe someone designed that, tested the preproduction samples and went forward with it. Also, the wheels don't run freely and often the brake shoes on the sideframe are really braking. They aren't free rolling and this is a big issue. Fortunately, the newer releases are much, much better. As for Walthers, it's a mixed bag and fishbellies under the heavyweight cars makes them barely able to negotiate a 28" radius. So, I made a test, put 8 Rapido cars on the test loop (28.75 inches radius) and tried to pull it with an Intermountain F7. Didn't move and stalled. Added a Bachmann GP9 to the consist and it started to roll, but with serious drag and getting slow on curves. Basically, forget about running the Cabot (16 cars) under these circumstance, forget about a complicated yard throat and forget getting over a grade. This is a disaster in waiting.

So let's rethink the concept and go back to the basics. The two level staging is making thing very complicated in terms of trackwork, wiring and control. Some loves that stuff, but I don't and trains should stay accessible. So only one level. The new staging is basically a similar shape, but it feeds both end of the visible layout. I may plan to add extra capacity and a crossover later so I can turn passenger trains. Otherwise, keep it simple.

Grades are an issue because I had to get rid of the feed mill scene in Langlois which I really liked and added that touch of working a local train in the countryside. The recent QSSR module proved that I really liked shuffling cars at a small industry and I want it on Monk. Grades are also an issue because I have to make sure they are perfect and they were a real problem when dealing with the curved Abenaki bridge (which could most likely be modelled straight to save myself some problems).

Having the town scene 6" above the benchwork created a problem because the trains were much too close to the IKEA wall cabinet and it left very little backdrop. Having everything on a single level means that vertical clearance is the same and optimal everywhere.

At the moment of writing, I'm back to the original concept of Langlois and Armagh, with Lake Therrien and Abenakis bridge. It's as simple as that. In terms of work, I just have to lower the spline and shuffle some tracks in the staging room. No major benchwork surgery is required because I planned with sufficient reserve. I knew that things would change.

Revised track plan

The lesson behind that story is that running trains do help to make decision. That Kato Unitrack loop took me out of fantasy land and back to reality. Switching trains on the module also had a big impact. My slow progress was partially motivated by the fact I was constantly questioning the validity of my choices. The thing is that you can't validate them if you don't commit to build. Once again, Mike Confalone strikes: build, run then make changes. Not the first time I write about that.

So what is the future of Monk? First, we had some issue with the house drainage in the basement and a new one must be installed and the path is right in the train room. It doesn't impact the benchwork, but it means I need to clean the area, which in hindsight is a good thing.

Then, the mainline spline will be lowered and levelled. Finally, I will rebuild the staging according to the new geometry, but after taking some time to test it with various rolling stock. My goal? Run a train by Christmas.

I see more old time modelling in my future...

Meanwhile, the Kato Unitrack loop has raised interesting possibilities which I will explore in a later post. Let's just say there is a second life to that old time exploration I did with Stanstead.

QSSR Mark VI - What I have Learned

I've been modelling a lot lately... the bug bites again has we say and having a small module right by my modelling workbench makes it perfect to keep the inspiration going on. Be it telegraph poles, farm implements, asphalt shingles roof or building and weathering countless grain hoppers, each of these projects are small and fulfilling.

I've also learned a lot about myself and my relation with layouts. As much as the QSSR was just a fancy idea to make something generic as possible, the more I interact with it, the more it turns into something familiar. First, it was that old feed mill from my home town which has been a staple of my layouts since 2000. Then, it was the track plan... the rolling stock and the motive power.

Yet, today, it struck me that the scene was eerily similar to that famous Richard Manicom photo of Langlois station on Monk Subdivision shot in 1963. How couldn't I had made that connection before just baffles me, but it is there, in plain sight. This is Monk subdivision, or should I saw, a slice of it. Even the small and unassuming station isn't that far from reality. I'm am certainly at that particular point in my modelling life where everything is converging fast into something very simple and coherent.

Yesterday, another realization came upon me when I took a few early 1950s green CNR passenger cars and coupled them to a locomotive. I ran them slowly on the module, back and forth and just looking at the train running back felt great... It kind of convinced me that my initial vision for Monk as a staging platform was probably right on the spot for my need.

An interesting lesson out of that is the module gives a sense of purpose and accomplishment, a vitrine for my modelling work. It also serves well my needs for switching which are real but not to the point of design a layout around them in a complicated manner. I'm laid back with my approach to switching, just a few cars and a track or two. The module is, in some way, a device to separate the close and personal switching chores from running main line trains. This is more than enough for me! It also helps to experiment a lot with what I wish to implement on the large layout in terms of scenery and rolling stock. 

Another Hopper... Another Dream...

The QSSR Mark VI brings me joy in a new way. This layout isn't great nor flamboyant nor original. Once everything two days, I set a random operating session, moving around cars following a match plan devised on the spot. A few cars are spotted, some catch my fancy, I take them to the workbench and start to work on them. When a step is completed, I screw back the trucks and they are ready to run again for a while until I add another layer of details or weathering. No need to finish everything, I let the inspiration of the moment define what I will do next. Fortunately, keeping it simple means that even if I lack focus, I have so little projects to complete that I can't stray very far. 

In my folders, I have that group of covered hopper pictures that I downloaded years ago from rrpicturearchives.com, my favourite prototype website. All have one theme in common; they were all shot in Ste. Rosalie and Farnham in Quebec, back when MMA was still a thing. This collection of ragtag cars brings infinite inspiration and some cars just begs to be modelled. One of them is that nice DWC yellow hopper with spartan lettering and data. It is one of many cool pictures shot by Richard Marchi.

DWC hopper in Ste. Rosalie (Credit: Richards Marchi)

I find great solace in modelling these unassuming subject... Krylon paint from a can, an old Intermountain kit, pieced together decals... Nothing classy, almost prototypical, genuine character and full of personality.

A fun and rewarding project

This is a great way to enjoy the hobby in an achievable, meaningful and successful way. It is both whimsical and sensible at the same time, which fits my needs and personality for these times when I don't feel like replicating a specific railroad.

QSSR Mark VI - Layout Early Assesments

Exploration continues with the QSSR Mark VII and along the way, many serendipity moments are discovered, while some well thoughts ideas just don’t materialize. I’ll sum up here my few key observations over the last few weeks.

Wiring… I’m bad at wiring. My brain isn’t wired for wiring. And as such, I’ve been unable to do a good job at wiring the turnout frogs on my Peco Unifrog turnouts without getting shorts. I tried to trouble shoot them, but it’s a mess. Will wait for Louis-Marie to sort that mess out. It’s probably a very simple issue. Speaking of turnouts, I’ve also observed that Peco code 70 turnout with solid rail points have a slight flaw. When the points are pushed against the rail, they sit a little bit higher than the stock rail. That’s annoying because it makes cars wobbles in an unrealistic manner. I’m thinking about adding some fine shims on the throwbar so the sit at the perfect height. Robin Talukbar also shown me his wonderful turnout control mechanism in St. Louis. He developed the idea from products his company manufactures and distributes. It’s really interesting because it is a turning motion which I feel more realistic. He can also control the fake scale stand switch without complicated links. That’s something I really want to try. 

"Close and personal" is the name of the game

A nice discovery was that my feed mill which I scratchbuilt earlier last year for a different module based on the same concept do fit the layout without alteration. I’m looking at ways to enlarge it by adding warehouses, but for now, this is a neat and fairly nice looking structure that fills the gap conveniently. I’ve yet to decide how I will handle it in the future, but it’s great to have something already made.

Operations: Will it get boring? I don’t know. That layout isn’t about big operations but rather as a whimsical diorama which I can turn out at the flick of a finger and move around some nice cars. It is a close and personal layout, meaning it’s more about seeing nicely weathered cars and engines in motion. For such a purpose, it seems to be a success and operating session last about anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. No preparation required, I just turn my chair around, plug the control cab and move freight.

One thing that worked according to plan was to use the station as a view block to hide the staging entrance. Not only does it work well, but it also frames the train in a perfect fashion as you see it emerging behind the structure. It distracts the eyes and you don’t question where the train is going outside the modelled scene.

Another advantage that appeared after a few operating sessions was that I would leave the locomotive idling by the station, as if it was a natural spot to park it between different scenarios. In some ways, it is the anchor point on the layout and just shows that this structure is not only a view block but also part and parcel of the narrative. Hence, the interest in making it a maintenance of way dedicated area. I’m really tempted to park a fuel truck there from time to time.

Station hiding the staging and loco ready to work

On the other hand, another scenic idea that I developed kind of failed. It is the raised foreground which seems to trick my eyes when I’m sitting on my chair and looking at trains. For some reason, when my eyes are close to the ground level in that area, the little bumps and lumps on the fascia start to trick my vision. My eyes focus on the fascia bumps and that makes the trains go blurry. I would have never expected something like that, but it sure does happen and makes the experience less immersive.

That little bumps really tricks you eye...

...and will be lowered to create a smoother transition.

I will probably need to alter the raised foreground left to the grade crossing to remove the bumps and make it smoother and lower. However, the raised terrain on the left corner really works well and will be kept as is.

The raised terrain and vanishing yard tracks

This raised terrain really frame the tracks which looks like a small yard in that area. I’m really glad to have curved the main line and sidings because when you look at them from the grade crossing, you can’t see their end against the backdrop. If you leave a cut of cars on these, you can’t really see the end of your train, thus it really creates the illusion of a full-length yard when it’s just a bunch of short tracks. In that regard, the unplanned optical illusion is a wonderful quality I didn’t expect.

72" of fun is good enough...

That really helps to create a sense of immersion as both the station and the curved tracks do blur the layout ends. It really feels like you are at the center of something really big, just like when you stand trackside in real life. In that regard, I consider the layout to be my best version of the QSSR experiments. I did love my other versions, but this one really provides a compelling experience.

It doesn’t feel like an artificial slice of reality, but rather like standing in the middle of a real place. It also proves that 72” long is good enough to fool your brain if your design is well thought out. All kind of locomotives are at their place on this layout, be it large 6-axle modern diesel, big steamers or small switchers.

Speaking of locomotives, the layout is so focussed on accurate and slow movement that I’m really considering the acquisition of a Proto Throttle. This is truly a layout where I feel it could shine and add an extra layer of immersion and realism. It would be wise to start saving money for such a controller.

Unspoken Truths - A Cohesive Design - Part 3 (final)

Since making mistakes and correcting them take less time than waiting to find the truth on paper, I’ve decided to fundamentally revise and streamline the Monk project. It doesn’t mean I’m abandoning it, but rather that I’ll try something that can be reverted back to the initial planning if required or that can grow out as I develop the design and find new ways to run trains.

First, I’m completely ditching replicating an exact prototype location. That’s not a mystery to those knowing about my intention with Monk. It had always been the initial goal: find what’s mundane, typical, and relatable. Everything will be generic though prototypically informed. Getting it right is more important than slaving over a prototype that may change according to my fancy. A passing track is a passing track, a grade crossing is a grade crossing and correctly locating a water tank doesn’t really change from a railway to another. Structures are fun to build and can be replaced to create another railway, be it a CNR station or a CNoR one.

 

Tentative track plan

Second, the theme stays the same: a busy mainline in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. That’s good enough for me. This, combined with the first statement, means that I will no longer give real place names to spots on the layout but rather give them a generic descriptor. The goal is to emphasize what happens there and not to falsely pretend to be somewhere that I can’t model as closely to reality as I would wish. It’s a succession of cameos, vignettes and vistas where one can stand and get immersed by what happens from the trackside. It’s all about railfanning the trains. In this case, places will then be known with short yet evocative names:

• The Meet: where you can see trains stop at the signals and meeting each other through a clearing in the forest. This is the isolated railfanning spot that provides only a glimpse of trains fighting the grade. It will be located at the Abénakis Bridge which will be replaced by a big fill.

• The Fill: a very large embankment built in a shallow but large valley with a big concrete culvert. In this regard, this scene is unchanged from the previous layout design. You watch the train as it enters a scenic curve.

• The Station: a place of civilization where you find fields, a small rural station, a section crew and a team track. Nothing fancy… except for the train order signal and the fact that here, the railway connects with human life.

• 
  The Causeway: a long narrow embankment built over a lake/marshes on the outskirts of the Station where our train disappear beyond a point we can’t reach after travelling through a highly scenic S-curve.

As mentioned in a previous post, the layout will be modified to be a folded dog bone. The passing track is now implied since there are no visible turnouts and we imagine they are out of sight from the modelled world we can see, as happens often in real life.

Defining the views

Also, some modifications are made to the staging area. Basically, I’ll modify the lower staging to fit the new scenario. I’ve yet to decide exactly what I want to do, but the good news is the longest train will be 50-cars long, which is quite impressive if it even works. Another idea would be to only have the lower level loop used as a staging (between 4 to 6 tracks) and keep the upper level staging much simpler with only one long passing track.

Passing turnouts won't be visible on the layout

My idea is that, if I’m inclined to do so, it would be possible to scenic the upper level and consider it as another layout. Among many ideas, I’m extremely tempted to do it in an American Southwest style reminiscent of Santa Fe and other such classic roads. I won’t hide the fact that ATSF is quite an evocative force in my mind and it would be cool to have a very simple track plan that can support two difference “layouts”.

Proposed scenicked upper staging