Re-engineering Clermont: A Layout as a Song...

In my last post, I explained a few reasons - including health issues - that pushed me to propose a new orientation to the layout "Charlevoix" room. Now, I'd like to use a superposed plan of what was there and what is proposed to better understand the reasons behind this drastic decision.

To be noted, the red elements on the following track plans are from the original layout and are dismantled.

Let's start with a few shortcomings of the previous design. Each ones are numbered in black.

(1) Over the years, to accommodate Dominion Textile, we came to enlarge considerably the original benchwork 18" width. At first, it sounded like a great idea to have a track fully embedded into scenery with great photography opportunities. Unfortunately, it became a plywood central that would eat up a lot of resources to landscape, but also a hindrance for many reasons.

This wider benchwork made access to the electric panel (top left corner) harder, but also made the aisle noticeably smaller, making it hard for two persons to stand there. It was no longer fun to go there. Finally, since the benchwork was very wide, it wasn't really practical to access under layout storage.

(2) Using Dominion Textile large multi-storey brick plant to hide the tunnel entrance was a great scenic trick that looked neat and had a purpose. Unfortunately, we didn't operate the plant since our era is now set in the 1990s and it was closed. It was also not practical to operate this customer. With 3 car spots hidden behind a large structure, you never knew what was there and it wasn't fun at all. Finally, Dominion Textile is an iconic building. If you model it, it better be just like the real thing or everybody will notice you are trying to fool them. It was clear to me replicating the structure would have a towering cost both in material and available time. Too much resources for what we could ever gain from having it on the layout except to say "Hey! Looks, it's Dominion Textile!"... in the same way people want you to look at their nude figures under the bridge or their eternal burning building scene with fire trucks.

(3) The red lines are what should have been ruins of QRL&PCo old hydroelectric power plant. Very neat scene, but it required a large cliff with a waterfall, complicated concrete ruins and a mesmerizing amount of trees. Wonderful and very photogenic... but unfortunately in front of an electric panel. This project was dead on arrival for this single reason.

(4) The previous concept with the track sweeping along St. Lawrence river forced us to install a sharp curved turnout in the middle of the peninsula to salvage the impressive scenery. But as our trains grew in size to better represent the prototype and our operating patterns came closer to what used to be done on CFC, it became a serious limitation. With a 20" radius near the turnout, it was increasingly becoming a liability with some freight cars and locomotives... and it did look silly. Finally, since a lot of operations happened there since turnouts are generally where we spend the most of our times, it wasn't very practical due to other peoples always walking around you. Turnouts on a curve at the end of a peninsula are rarely an optimal design idea.

(5) This cute grade crossing what neat... but in fact not that great. Since the train emerged from a long tunnel behind the furnace, you barely knew when to use your whistle since it was impossible to know exactly where the train was. It always ended up in botched whistling at best when you had other things to do.

(6) Clermont's team track has always been hard to define. It looked great with a feedmill, but it made little sense since that customer wasn't really rail served. As a team track for lumber transloading, it wasn't very convincing because you could hardly imagine a semi-trailer truck finding its way there. Worst, there was very little space for lumber storage, making it an unlikely location for such a function. Thus, we decided this little track would be what it used to be on the prototype: a storage track. Old MoW equipment will be kept there with some front loader dedicated to ballast and rip rap loading. Maybe a rusting snow plow, which was a hallmark of Clermont... But nothing more...

Now, for the new stuff in Blue Uppercase Letters.

(A) Industrial activities in Wieland are now concentrated in one easily accessible area. It gives a purpose to a location that had none and will be easy to operate following the prototype practice. Team tracks are the best option to keep scenery low for a better access to the electric panel. Finally, with a narrower benchwork creating an alcove, someone can stay 20 minutes there and switch the customers without blocking the main aisle.

(B) In these location, I imagine a small shelf along the fascia where mechanical devices actuating the switches and derails would be located. They would also provide a writing surface useful when checking the switch list. As you can see, they are located exactly in front of turnouts because it is where we generally stand for a long time. As stated often, I'm certainly wanting to use garden scale Sunset Valley switch stands to operate the turnout, exactly how Trevor Marshall did it on his excellent Port Rowan layout. I'm having a hard time convincing my fellow club members, but I hope it will happen.

(C) This is the "scenery zone" part of Wieland. This is the kind of track were no direct interaction with trains is required. See it as a buffer between activity zones that create space. I want to use it to get the ambiance of Malbaie River valley. A single track flowing in a plain with old mountains in the background. Landforms aren't majestic, but a combination of sloping prairies, ditches and grass covered hills. I already imagine a row of trees in front of the track, barely hiding it and giving the impression the train is running across the wilderness... just like the real thing.

Let us conclude with how the new design come together as a compelling story about railroading in Clermont. This is vital because without a coherent storyline, a layout is only a collection of disjoined vignettes making very little sense.

Just like a song, the "Clermont Room" is now made of "verses" and "chorus". Chorus are the scenery zones. They repeat themselves and bring no new information. They set the mood and frame the verses which are the activity zones. Activity zones are where actions are performed and required a high level of concentration. They must happen where people can concentrate on complicated tasks without being disturbed continually. So let's have a glimpse at the new song:

First Verse: Wieland. Here, an incoming train must switch Reynolds but also the lumber yard. According to prototype pictures, it wasn't uncommon for locomotives to pick up lumber flat cars and shove them up to Clermont yard.

First Chorus: The track run in the valley at slow speed before reaching Clermont yard which is located in the middle of the woods.

Second Verse: Clermont South yard throat. A lot happens here to reverse trains but also to build consist and switch cars for Wieland. This zone is nothing more than a clearing in the woods with some turnouts.

Second Chorus: The bulk of Clermont Yard is nothing more than a bunch of curved track sweeping along a low wood covered cliff. In real life, it is barely accessible and visible... It will be the same on the layout since most switching activities happen at the throats.

Third Verse: Clermont North yard throat. A lot happens here, including the MoW and daily switching chores. This is where Donohue's switcher pick up and set out cars from the paper mill. It is also a rare place where the public can interact directly with the yard due to a nearby grade crossing and access roads.

Third Chorus: Malbaie River is the scenic divider par excellence. On one side is CFC trackage... on the other side is the paper mill with its private tracks. Only transfer runs can happen there.

Fourth and final Verse: Donohue Paper. The end of the track is the breadwinner of the layout. Intense industrial activities happen there and switching is complicated and long. In itself, the plan could be considered as a complete and self-containing layout.

A New Modelling Season

It started last night, unannounced as the chilly early September morning. Nevertheless, a big obstacle was overcome, one that haunted me for years without ever finding a definitive solution. I've talked about it countless times, drawn plans, made mockups and refrained from taking action...

Gone is Montmorency and Dominion Textile, gone are Charlevoix towering cliffs and gone is St. Lawrence shores... Emblematic they were... and as anything emblematic, their self importance and iconic status made them compete for attention while detracting us from the railroad.

But such a bold decision couldn't have been made without an unexpected hospitalization last week that nailed me in the bed for almost a week. Chronic diseases and health issues are never a laughing matters, but after several long stay in hospitals during the last decade, I've come to appreciate that special time when I have nothing to do if not developing my patience and sifting through life and what really matters. Hospitals are probably the most striking reality check one can get, particularly when you are basically bedridden for days and the most basic human activities such as taking a meal, going to the toilet or simply sleeping can become not only challenging but also a constant source of suffering.

Such experiences, and a lot of time to think between meals and injections, provides fertile grounds for thoughts. And while I had various ones about all aspects of my life, at some point, the layout surfaced here and there. While extremely weak, my mind was still sharp enough to analyze the railroad from a distant perspective. Health became a major component of what I often call "limited resources" and it forces you to make choices... bold ones.

Finally, after a few days, it became clear to me why I was unsatisfied with the layout and particularly that long stretch of track between Villeneuve and Clermont. In recent years, I often wrote how I felt no realistic solutions could merge these scenes together... Thus I simply decided to remove them. Nothing more, nothing less... simply gaining space so the only scene in the room could breath and work according to its intended purpose.

Since focussing on CFC, it became clear the diminutive Clermont yard, which was basically a single siding was not only too short, but couldn't handle the traffic. I'm not talking about having a big yard for the sake of having a big yard, but rather underlining the fact it was mathematically not working, thus being a real liability for the railroad. Also, having curved turnouts on curved made operation awkward and prone to derailment.

Thus, since the old "signature" scenes are gone, we now have space to lengthen the yard and add the required siding. Not only there is no longer a need for unrealistic scene transition, but we now have operation going on for real on the other side of the peninsula, which wasn't the case up until now. We have basically given up our useless 12 feet of "main line" which were used about 30 seconds per operation session with a more prototypical longer yard which ensure we can  enjoy trains all over the room.

A simplified and unified track plan for Clermont

Having a longer yard is also an excellent occasion to better replicate prototypical gestures as was common on CFC, including derails and other mundane task. It also gives us enough room for improved locomotive control. Here I am thinking about recent development such as the Proto Throttle. It's no longer a matter of stop and go, but rather thinking how to start or slow down the engine to make sure the task is perform seamlessly. To be honest, looking at a locomotive performing a task at reduced speed matters much more to me than large viaducts and vistas.

That brings me to my last point: scenery. Our layout isn't small. That's a lot of real estate to decorate and cover in scenery... Too much for myself, and particularly with my frail health. Also, I'm not a fan of complicated scenery tricks. However, my appreciation for realistic track, roadbed and mundane landforms is real. Looking at several pictures of Charlevoix Railway, it struck me that the most beautiful spot where all in the middle of nowhere and, in fact, generally unknown to me because they are unreachable. Nothing happens there and since no one really live there, we are in presence of a basic philosophical question: if it is not known, does it exist? My answer, in term of model railroading is a resounding NO.

On the other hand, where action occurs and interaction with trains is the most direct, the landscape is absolutely average and banal.  Ditches, woods, dirt roads, more ditched, weeds and bushes with low mountains in the background. While extremely mundane, it felt strange that I had a far stronger emotional response to these scenes than the wonderful vistas along the St. Lawrence River. Given our relation to this hobby is generally very emotional and driven by nostalgia, it was clear what should be given up and what should be hold dear.

I could discuss about this during countless hours, but I'll make it short. Over the years, I've come to realize this hobby comes with serious limitations due to its continentally-sized subject matters. These limitations can be seen as compromises or even hindrances, but at some point, one should see them as design potential. Issues are great because they provide opportunities... A layout is the same thing. Knowing you better, knowing you strengths and your weakness helps you to know when to know which fight is worth battling for. I certainly won't discourage anybody to face up big challenges, as long as these challenges are meaningful and fruitful.

Abandoning several iconic elements of Hedley Junction can be seen as a loss, but it can also be seen as a gain if at the end of the day, it makes the project progress steadily in a satisfying way. This is one reason why we make choices.

Last evening, we scrapped at least 20 feet of mainline including our most scenic areas... I regret nothing.

Hobby Room Ideas

The lack of space in our hobby is generally discussed from a layout size perspective. Everyone dream of a basement empire and, supposedly, the success of model railroading is measured in similar way we assess the Roman empire successes in term of territorial addition. However, issues with available space can be much more complex than find a fitting room for a layout. It has been proven more than once layouts of any shape and size can share the same amount of interest.

Unfortunately, stuff like tools, working space and storage can hardly be compressed. Many people will work with very minimal space and it is certainly doable. But as you collection of rolling stock, locomotives, parts, scratchbuilding supplies and tool grow, the kitchen table and office desk aren’t no longer viable solutions.

Over the last decade, I’ve been pursuing my hobby at my office desk. It’s a cluttered surface about 10 sq. ft. with an effective working area barely the size of a small cutting mat. Parts and supplies are stored as best as I can in cardboard boxes in various cupboards around the house. While I know were my stuff is generally stored, it happens I make serendipitous discoveries of parts I forgot I ever bought. Another problem is raised by working on multiple projects at a time. I’ve learned that when working on my Harlem Station layout fleet. Models in various stage of completion were all over the place. The final nail in the coffin is the spray booth which Louis-Marie built a few months ago. It sits in the middle on the room, on cardboard boxes near a window. Far to be efficient and certainly bulky!

While a part of the problem is due to my lack of organization, I must recognize conditions aren’t there to improve the situation. It why, as my home renovations progress, I’ve been thinking about creating a decent workshop in my basement.

Hobby room first rough sketch.

This is a basic concept that will have to be refined over the months, but it gives a general idea of what I’d like to achieve. First, it would be a dual purpose room serving as a workshop and a layout room. Minimal parameters are that aisle around my Harlem Station layout should be minimally 3 feet large. Going under that dimension would be foolish. Second, storage space should be plentiful and varied to accommodate the collection, supplies and tools.

I imagine a long workbench with storage units for tools and supplies. One section could be dedicated to painting with the spray booth conveniently located near the exterior wall. It would also provide some space for vats used to strip paint from model. A long DCC test track would be available to program and test locomotives. Under the working surface, several drawers would be handy for parts, tools and supplies. Over the workbench, I imagine various shelves to store ongoing projects.

On another wall, I would install shelf brackets units to display and operate various small dioramas ad switching layouts I built in the past. Nothing bulky, just something both convenient and adjustable. I could also easily imagine displaying some models over the layouts.

Finally, another wall would provide extensive storage capacities. It could be cupboards and shelves. These would be useful to store the collection in a pragmatic and efficient way. Havign several interests, I’d be pleased to dedicate various spaces to specific themes determined by our layouts (Hedley Junction, Harlem Station, St-Pie, etc.). Rolling stock could be classified according to state of completion, keeping completed models together and ongoing and future projects somewhere else.

Some will wonder why I didn’t include a possible benchwork around the room for a future layout. It could be possible, but I prefer to keep that dangerous idea at bay for the moment. I’ve got enough on my plate and still have to put Harlem Station in operation. The room itself is large and versatile enough to be adapted for a future project if my interests changes over the year.  I planned the room with the future in mind, but certainly don’t want to open the door to a sprawling monster. This choice is also motivated by what I’d like to call neatness. A neat room has more appeal to me than a half finish spaced cluttered with a badly presented layout. I firmly believe the way we interact with our layouts is also a matter of presentation. For the moment, I can easily imagine Harlem Station standing in the middle of the room, at a realistic height and with excellent lighting fixtures bringing attention and life to it. I see it just like a billiard room, with the layout shining in the middle and around which we can gather and interact with the hobby. At some point, I would easily imagine installing a small wooden shelf around the layout fascia to put a glass of your favorite beverage, some switching paper work or simply rest your arms. Something comfy and finished… a real piece of furniture.

Additional notes: Keen observers will quickly find out an islant layout takes up a LOT of space in a room, particularly when you want decent aisles. An around the wall layout would certainly be much more efficient, however, at this point, it's a question of choice. It must be noted Harlem Station is a fully prototypical layout that has about 45 specific car spots and can handle up to 55 cars at once. It is packed with action and don't suffer any kind of selective compression. Operating the layout is just like operating the real thing without compromise. At this point, it can be a selling point. Also, it must be noted I'm not eager to install anything on the long stone wall because of heating, plumbing and various mechanical reasons.

The Story Behind The Blog Header Picture

For many years now, Hedley-Junction blog as been identified by an old picture from the late 19th century depicting Hedleyville station. At first glance, this picture makes very little sense due to the relatively modern blog subject matter. However, when I selected it, most of my efforts were focused toward late 1950s railroading in Quebec City and it was - superficially - more relevant.

Hedleyville in 1898, including header picture field of vision. Surviving house in red. (credit: BANQ)

I recently found a 1898 fire insurance map of Hedleyville (now Limoilou) that depict the area as it was on the pictures. It must be noted Hedleyville started as a small company town developped by an industrialist in the late 19th century. Fleeing raising municipal taxes and a series of disastrous fires in Quebec City's poorest neighborhood (St-Roch, St-Sauveur and St-Jean), many people  decided to install themselves on St. Charles River north shore, just outside Quebec City limits. Several small villages (almost boom towns) developped in what would later become Limoilou. Each of them were generally the result of an industrialist or developper acquiring a large rural property, starting a business and selling plot to employees. Smithville (later Stadacona), Parkeville, Gros-Pin, New Waterford and Hedleyville all started the same way. Funnily enough, most of these towns were extremely close to each others, often less than half a mile. Promising good jobs, a more healthy suburban environment and low taxes, the success was immediate and new parishes and schools were soon founded.

The most prominent town was Hedleyville which was founded by W.H. Anderson, a lumber merchant, circa 1870. It quickly rose to proeminence when it was selected by Quebec Montmorency & Charlevoix Railway (future CN Murray Bay Subdivision) as its westernmost temporary terminal. It wasn't a coincidence since just a few years before, Quebec and Lake St. John Railway had built its mainline up to Hedleyville, waiting that a soon to be build bridge would span St. Charles River and link the rails directly with Quebec City.

At that time, Hedleyville is growing fast and lack of urban planification soon leads to an important fire in 1893. The same year, due to grow, it is decided to merge all the villages together and form a new larger town named Limoilou to better manage the area and bring better services, including much needed waterworks. The name Limoilou is an interesting one because it honors Jacques Cartier's homestead in France. Back in 1534, Cartier had wintered his ships and camped within the municipal limits.

Land developpers had big dreams for the new town and agressive development based on the most modern town planning principles was done to absorb Quebec City's growing population. However, any suburban town with little industries and commerce can't raise that much revenues from residential taxpayers. Needs were important but not revenue. In a matter of time, and after the large and costly parish church burned down twice in a decade, Limoilou was in a dire financial situation. By 1909, it was amalgamated into Quebec City territory and became just another borough.

Only surviving building circled in yellow(credit: Google Earth)

At the same time, Quebec & Lake St.John Railway was acquired by Canadian Northern which had great plans for Quebec City. As the fire insurance map shows, Hedleyville was kind of crammed between several busy railway line, which created many problems, accidents and dangerous conditions. Between 1906 and 1910, the eastern part of Hedleyville was expropriated by CNoR and Limoilou yards and shops were built. By the late 1920s, QRL&PCo erected its own shops in the vicinity and a very large paper mill occupied the waterfront. Long gone were the days when this area was a pleasant countryside where wealthy businessmen and politicians built their villa.

Now, back to the photo and the map... To most people, this area would be absolutely unrecognizeable. With the exception of one cottage (the second counting from left), every structure has disappeared. The tracks have been raised on an embankment when CNoR built the yard and Limoilou yard now occupy the area right to the main line. The junction with QRL&PCo have been severed and moved further east in the yard, though rails serving the paper mill still joins there in similar fashion.

1898 map and 2018 sattelite image superposion. Hedleyville eastern part vanished under the railway yard.

The land between the station and the town is now covered by an elevated highway. Funnily enough, even though the station was demolished, CN built its yard office in the 90s exactly on the same spot and same orientation. It is a pure coincidence, but an interesting one nevertheless.

But the maps tells us more... If the picture seems to depict only a road with a few houses, in fact there another street behind and two rows of houses. It seems Anderson street when quite far to the left and many others houses, not pictures, were located there. Also, on the picture, we can clearly seen the station ground was not yet landscaped with piles of earth and gravel still laying around. It probably means the picture was shot circa 1889-1890 when Quebec Montmorency and Charlevoix Railway made a junction with Q&LStJR.

EDIT: on the header picture, above the passenger cars, you can see a very high stack. It was part of a large rope factory that was located there and was among the few industrial sites in Hedleyville. It wasn't rail served by a dedicated siding, but probably did take advantage of the railroad to ship its products. It must be noted Quebec City had one the largest shipbuilding facilities in the world during the 19th century with many shipyards located on the shores of St. Charles river. This industries goes back to the mid-17th century when king Louis XIV was fully satisfied by the new vessels built in Quebec City by Intendent Talon, a famous local administrator that bolstered industry in New France in the 1660s and 1670s.

Ropes were a sought after item and no wonder the factory was located in Hedleyville. Unfortunately, Quebec City's shipyards dominated the wooden vessel industry, but were never able to convert to steel ship fabrication. Only Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis was able to modernize and survive up to this day.

Avenue Industrielle - An Industrial Waste Wonderland

August generally means very little actual modelism due to summer vacations and surprisingly a lot of free time to think too much about layout design. This is habitually an intense period of layout design for me and a good excuse to explore various ideas for a projected home layout. I’ll be blunt, I’ve been in that house almost a decade and have yet to build and operate a layout that will stand the test of time! But honestly, layout design in itself is a hobby worth pursuing and I see no harm honing my skills chasing an elusive project!

It also becomes clearer each day my house can only accept small layouts of the shelf type, which isn’t a problem in itself and can lend itself to explore various themes and era without having to be chained to an ever growing monster in the basement. In fact, it is highly possible a future layout will be a combination of stacked small vignettes depicting very various prototypes on a few shelves. I like testing ideas and going smaller is the way to go for me to keep my mind focus.

So what’s on my mind right now? Well, a lot of ideas including a portion of a paper mill which I’m refining from an initial concept from last year (probably set in the 60s or 70s) which would be kind of cool given I’ve got all the rolling stock, tracks and structure parts required. It could be CN or CP depending on the mood. But I’ve also wanted to explore something even smaller and more mundane that could put to use my 1950s CNR fleet by revisiting a very old concept.

Back in 2012, I created a switching layout track plan based on Avenue Industrielle district (Industrial Avenue) in Québec City. This industrial area – as its name implies – was located within CNR Limoilou Yard and was basically a very long single track spur with some sidings serving various small and medium-sized customers including a builder supply, a produce warehouse, a lumber yard and about four oil dealers. It had appeal due to its gritty railroading look and grimy appearance. As a switching layout, it linear quality made this particular prototype an excellent candidate because it could fit on a very narrow shelf.

 

Original track plan with little ressemblance to the prototype

As a challenge, I tried to build it and reached a decent stage of completion (by my own sloppy standards) that confirmed some ideas had merit. Ultimately, the project failed when I decided to renovate my office room and wall space was no longer available. But to be honest, many other small things must be factored in to understand why this endeavour didn’t come to fruition and how it could have been different.

Not half bad, but decidedly cluttered.

Back then, I still had the typical model railroader mentality firmly ingrained though I tried to fight it back as much as I could. Thus, while following Lance Mindheim’s design guidelines, it was still an exercise in cramming 1 square miles of dense industrial setting into two hollow core doors. As if things weren’t good enough, I tried to add here and there elements for the sake of operation interest and diversity… We all know this couldn’t be good! The “I Want It All” syndrome was left unleashed and in a matter of time the project became really messy. Worst, I didn’t take the time to analyze correctly the fire insurance maps, missing subtle elements that would have made my life far much easier and the layout surprisingly more interesting.

Fast forward almost 7 years later and we can try and see how I would approach such a layout. First, instead of using selective compression and trying to fit as much elements as possible to represent the entire spur and neighborhood, I would only select a section and model it as close as possible to the prototype. It means the layout wouldn’t depict the entire switching job, but only one part. I also would adopt the “less is more” turnout approach I’ve been exploring since the last few years, keeping in my 20 minutes to 1 hour long sessions are a realistic goal. Finally, the layout would be almost at eye level, thus quite shallow. Due to space limitation, but also to make handling easy when building the layout at on the work bench, I would select a compact footprint. A good example would be IKEA LACK shelf, which is about 75” x 10”, which is sufficient for a small switching layout. These shelves lend themselves well for small layout in similar fashion to hollow core and their concealed supports are strong enough for this use since they can hold up from 18 to 44 lbs depending on wall type and fastener, which is more than enough for a very simple project. (Be aware IKEA uses a flimsy concealed shelf bracket for its shorter LACK shelves. Though far less sturdy, I’ve used some of them to display locomotives and they have hold well. In case of doubt, add shelf brackets.) A small 36” long cassette can be added to make switching easier, but it should be stressed it is possible to have a fully functional and realistic HO layout without using it. Ken Olsen’s Dawson Station N scale layout is such an example and it could be recreated in HO scale without problem. As long as you take in account the number of cars and how to handle them in the final track design, it shouldn’t be a major limitation.

Avenue industrielle circa 1948 (credit: Stéphano Biando, Université Laval)

Now, let’s see which part of Avenue Industrielle is worth our attention. While it is easy to select the end of the spur, one could elect to model any part of it. The level of traffic, complexity and modelling potential are about the same. I consider two locations are interesting and both would be equally pleasing to build. Let’s take a look at both.

End of spur on 1957 fire insurance map (credit: BANQ)

The first option is obvious: model the end of the spur. This area has a rather large British-American oil warehouse that received boxcars and tank cars and a large lumber yard. Logs and finished lumbers would be the main traffic. All in all, an interesting proposition well framed between the oil dealer that makes a great visual point of interest and the lumber piles behind which the incoming train emerge. About 6 car spots are possible, which isn’t bad at all, including specific spots at the oil warehouse. However, it seems a little bit hard to operate efficiently using a short cassette as it could easily induce additional back and forth movements, making it a good plan to build up frustration… Let’s see if we can’t find a better track plan.

First idea: modelling the spur end.

 

The second option is modelling the area just right of the lumber mill. At first it may look counterintuitive to model the middle of a siding! But beware of the “boring” aspect of this location. Upon closer inspection, one starts to find merit in what seems a rather mundane place in the middle of nowhere. This area is characterized by a few long sidings serving several industries including a builder supplies (Perlite de Québec), three small oil dealers and a produce warehouse. In a matter of time, we now know we will have attractive tank cars, boxcars, colorful reefers and probably more… not bad. As for framing the scene, the lumber piles will help conceal the layout left end while the right end should be cluttered with lumbers, trash, piles of material and vehicles as was the case in real life. From pictures I’ve seen, the area was littered with trash, muddy and heavily polluted. Forget neatly ballasted track, it was an industrial waste wonderland. However, an interesting aspect of this area however is the trackage itself, which is almost optimal for a small layout. A very long siding with several customers and a long sorting track (the “main” line) helps ensure smooth switching moves while inducing a challenge in sorting of cars and re-spotting ones that don’t move.

Second idea: modelling the middle of the spur

Looking at aerial photographs from 1948, it becomes evident the long siding depicted on the fire insurance maps was at that time broken in several shorter sidings. The most interesting one was serving the produce warehouse and two oil dealers… Not bad for a small industrial layout!

Middle of the spur, 1957 fire insurance map (credit: BANQ)

Another interesting thing is this industrial spur didn’t have a clear cut siding/main line dichotomy modellers love so much. In fact, according to the same aerial pictures from 1948, cars could be spotted anywhere it was convenient for customers. In the case of the lumber yard, both tracks were used, even if by our modeller’s standards we would consider it was a hindrance. Given how tracks were used, we can define what I would call “official” and “unofficial” car spots. Official ones are where you can find a loading dock, an unloading rig or a warehouse dock. You can’t fiddle that much with these elements and better keep them as they were to better capture the prototype. In our case, it appears the produce warehouse had two dedicated spots. One of them was for cold storage, thus probably only served by reefers, while the other spot was general purpose and could probably handle both boxcars and reefers. Next to it is Cities Services spot.  It could have handled two tank cars due to its length, but I have no definite proof. An unloading pipe probably dictated where the car(s) had to be spotted. The same can be said of Champlain Products which was similar. The next one was Supertest Petroleum which was served by a dedicated siding. Interestingly enough, just like British-American, they had a rail-served oil warehouse. Given the layout has already enough industries, this one could be modelled as a static display with a track a few cars that could be swapped by hand to add visual interest.

Impromptu (or unofficial) car spots would be near the lumber pile where cars could be seen back in the days. It could be a flat car, a gondola or a boxcar. Finally, the long stretch of track could harbor many types of car and be used as a team track or an off spot storage on an irregular basis. It may sounds absolutely low key and simple, but simply adding a car on the “team track” could be quite a challenge in itself. I certainly wouldn’t abuse of this trick too much when spotting cars!

In term of operation, I would keep trains as short as can be to not create a switching puzzle. If you can afford a longer switching lead or cassette, consider yourself lucky. In the best of world, you would be able to pull out all the spotted cars and incoming ones including your locomotive on the switching lead which is about anywhere between 6 to 8 feet long. However, given Avenue Industrielle was located within Limoilou yard premises, it means switching was done on a daily basis on a regular schedule. It means trains must have been short and only a handful of cars were handled. In fact, the aerial photographs show only a few car spots were used at once. For this layout, I would consider a maximum of 5 cars on the layout as a limit. Incoming trains would be about 3 cars long and no caboose would be used. The switching lead could be able to handle about 6 cars (if 3 feet long),

Interestingly enough, both modules can be assembled together (as in real life) and with a longer cassette or switching lead, make for a growing layout that can be built in steps.

Some final thoughts… The more I think about it the more I consider such a prototype would make for a great “club” layout. Imagine you model the entire spur full scale, make room for a long switching lead and a sorting track replicating work done in the larger yard. Not only you get yourself a very interesting layout from a visual and thematic point of view, but one that is highly manageable. With only 2 turnouts, track issues won’t be a problem. With more space, the shelf can be built at about 18 inches-22 inches large to better represent each customer and their structures, giving depth to the scene without over reaching. There would be about 20 car spots, which is quite a lot, even for “larger” layouts, in less than 18 feet in length.

As for motive power, a good steam switcher such as a 0-6-0, a 0-8-0 or anything else used in yards would be at its place. To take advantage of serious advances in diesel locomotive control (ProtoThrottle), any early EMD or ALCO switchers would do the job. Even smaller GE 44-ton wouldn’t be out of place at all and could particularly be of interest for people modelling large scales. Avenue Industrielle in S scale (about 9’) or O scale (12’) would be terrific and absolutely within reach for most people and lend itself to high quality rolling stock, scenery and structures.