Scenery Progress at Donohue

This year goal seems to complete a sensible amount of scenery in Clermont and particularly Donohue which has been Plywood Central for many, many years... in fact, since May 2014.

Work continue on Rivière Malbaie with some spackling applied to get rid of gaps in the plywood. Once sanded down, the river bed will be painted in various shades to reflect the backdrop photo. I've yet to decided how the water will be done, but it won't be more than 1/8" thick, meaning most effects will be done using various varnishes and clear acrylic gel.

We also painted and installed the illustration board road and parking lot. Once again, the carboard was sprayed with various shaded of automotive gray primers and Krylon camouflage beige. This time, more lighter shades were used to represent an aged pavement. Cracks were added with a black pencil, following prototype pictures. Later, when scenery will be almost done, various powders, including weathering ones and real stone dust will be brushed over the cardboard pavements to add another layer of realism and blend everything together.

I find it easier to glue these roads with acrylic caulk. I'm not a fan of PL300 glues, these being too much overkill for modelling purpose. Once the roads are set in place correctly, I run a bead of carpenter glue along the edges to seal them from future scenery glue and to make sure they won't warp at the perimeter.

As I continue revisiting several layout concepts so they can fit within my display cabinets, a new vision of Monk Subdivision start to emerge. Simplified and narrower (about 16"), this different take on the project tries to wrap around the corner the entire station, yard and depot. You'll also remark the main line isn't parallel to the walls, but flows diagonally to create space for various railway function (the shops, the depot, etc.)

One big change is to only consider the cabinet area as the main operation focus, the rest of the smaller shelves acting as a simple runaround track. On that loop, one two-ended siding could be added to stage a train or two in advance or act simply as a originating and terminating point for trains.

I also decided to keep the yard as small as I could, simply keeping a long passing track and a smaller two-ended team track serving various customers, including an oil dealer. While studying a few pictures from Monk, it became quite clear a freight house used to stand left from the large depot. It seems to have been a regular standard NTR model and the team track there could handle a few freight cars, maybe 3.

The turntable has also been relocated in a corner so the service tracks could be longer and more realistic. Having the locomotive shops on the opposite side of the layout creates a visual tension on the layout while providing an interesting focal point when entering the room. For the sake of convenience, a small MoW siding was added so some interesting rolling stock such as work trains or cabooses could be displayed there.

The continuous run could be scenicked of left as is. It could also be possible to imagine a small customer such as a feed mill located on the curve for the sake of performing smaller local train operations. But it wouldn't be required per se.

This version of Monk is probably much toned down compared to the original concept which was sound yet a little bit crowded to my taste. The goal was to create the impression of a track surrounded by nature and wilderness as was the NTR. Structures are clustered together, track density kept as low as possible and most secondary trackage would be in bad shape or covered in grass as was the case on the prototype to emphasize the linear nature of the mainline. I once tries with with Villeneuve on the club layout and found it was a neat trick to create the required hierarchy of track use.

I've also experimented with a slightly different version with a completely scenicked continuous run. While it could be interesting, I think this plan kind of thin down the intial focus on the cabinet area.

Avenue Industrielle - Richer Than Previously Thought

Recently, Jérôme sent me a scan of an old 1965 map of Limoilou Yard in high definition. First time I ever saw a good scale drawing of the area before major overhaul occurred in the 1970s. It helped to better understand how the trackage changed near Glassine Canada which, it turns out, was located on what used to be QRL&PCo Limoilou Shops wye. You learn something new everyday.

However, the biggest surprise was the industrial spur along Avenue Industrielle which I have covered on other blog posts in the past. This time, it was really an eye opener. Until now, I only knew about this interesting small industrial park through very unreliable insurance maps and grainy aerial pictures.

While I kind of guessed most elements right, it seems I my original interpretation was right: their was a team track near the roundhouse. For years, I thought it was simply my imagination, but it was indeed real and had a loading ramp.

From a layout perspective, this is quite interesting because it means a diversified traffic occurred there on a daily basis. Thus, a very simple track plan is no excuse to call it boring.

Colorized Limoilou Yard map (credit: Ville de Québec, circa 1965)

But on a surprising note, it seems a big chunk of marshes still existed west to the spur. Indeed, Limoilou yard is built on an ancient swamp called La Canardière where ducks gathered (they still do to some extent). But I wouldn't have guessed parts of that marsh was still surviving as late as the mid-1965.

This little geography fact has a tremendous impact on how I would approach building such a layout. Instead of starting with a flat plank, I'd rather build the entire trackage on an embankment then fill the areas with industrial activities and leaving the natural areas lower. The spur itself would be built upon a dirt and rock embankment full of bushes and weeds, making it clear it was built on previously natural lands.

Revised track plan

Given we always approach small industrial layout from a very dry and rugged perspective, it seems quite refreshing to see it as a small chunk of human activities slow encroaching a natural habitats. It makes for a more dramatic and contrasted visual narration while providing much more historical context and a means to tie together a very long scene (about 20 linear feet).

East Angus Paper Mill - Final Thoughts

I've now reached the point where I can confidently say I closed the circle on the East Angus paper mill concept. As often, I could hear Chris Mears' voice asking a myriad of questions and felt if I failed to address them, the design wouldn't be optimal.

Once again, I optimized the footprint to fit perfectly my IKEA cabinets. To make it possible, I bent the track plan over the corner, creating a L-shaped layout not very different from my first draft about this prototype.

Overall, it creates a visually more pleasing scene, articulated between a very industrial part dominated by an old power house and a purely scenic area over the long and photogenic bridge. To be honest, it seems to me the new L-shaped disposition provides for a more balanced layout that wraps itself around you, strengthening the immersive nature of this concept.

For the sake of operation, I also added a narrow shelf running around the room and over the workbench. It could work as an interchange point and be tastefully scenicked. In that regard, Tom Johnson proved us more than once that you can do wonders with only a few inches.

To be honest, I'd love to build that layout, which would be a perfect CP Rail-themed diorama. Unfortunately, I'm not sure building another paper mill layout is a great idea. However, it could provide inspiration to anybody wanting to develop such an industry in tight spaces. It's the proof you don't need a lot of trackage to create an expansive vision.

Rivière Malbaie - Back to Normal

Monday marked our first club meeting in 10 weeks since lock down started back in March. It followed the public recommendations for meeting in a home, which weren't to bad to implement given the way our layout room. As with most first meetings, it was not a very productive one mainly because the layout needed some cleaning to be back in service. However, it was a good occasion to try have a fresh impression on the layout and how it looks.

In fact, it is now a given fact our layout is poorly lighted. Colors aren't rendered correctly, several spots are in the dark and the overall light level is often too low. We have yet to find a solution that is both effective and economically acceptable. If some readers have tried and true suggestions, I'm perfectly open to analyze them given our circumstances.

As for the layout, we set our goals at completing, as much as possible, the basic scenery in Clermont. This has lagged for too long and we have now enough experience to move forward at a sustained speed. As this point, all roads are cut and some will need to be painted and weathered. It shouldn't be to hard thought "Mill Street" is a 10 feet long single piece of illustration board. It will be tricky to paint and detail such a large street. I can't do it on my workbench, but maybe in the garage.

In terms of scenery, I also started adding the rip rap on Rivière Malbaie using real stones sourced directly from the river on that spot. It really brings together the scene and I can't wait completing the embankments vegetation! Also, I installed the custom made plaster bridge pillar in the middle of the river. It was made about 5 or 6 years ago but I waited a long time before setting it on the layout for fear of chipping the plaster. Some paint repairs are to be expected and I'm seriously thinking about giving it a coat or two of dullcote to protect it a little bit better. Incidently, I'm not a fan of painted plaster...

As for the river bed itself, I'll probably smooth it with spackle then paint and varnish it. I'm planning to use Liquitex Modelling Paste to create realistic waves in the river or another similar product. I don't see the need for pouring resin there. Malbaie Rivier is a powerful mountain river, not a plain creek or a canal.

With that said, I hope everyone is doing OK. I still have a few projects I didn't share publicly and hope to discuss about them soon.