CN Woodchip Car - Toward Production

Last time I wrote about the CN woodchip car project, it was back in early February when the pre-production models were unveiled during an informal RPM meet in Ontario kindly organized by Hunter Hughson. Since then, COVID-19 happened and my professional workload skyrocketed due to a new exciting heritage project. However, some readers have contacted me about the cars, asking when they would be available. I feel I have a moral obligation to stand by my words and thus decided to make a last push to see this project reach a satisfying conclusion.

However, the  delay isn't a bad thing because it helped me to get access to better technology while addressing issues raised by the pre-production model. With the help of some people in Quebec City area with good 3D printing knowledge it will make developing the project both faster and better. Also, doing thing locally helps me to keep an eye on quality and reduce costs to some extend.

That said, let's address the issues and flaws found in the pre-production models:

First, the underframe small I-beams were extremely brittle. I tried to make them as close to scale as I could and it was a mistake. A few people with knowledge in 3D printing told me to make them rectangular to make them sturdier and easier to print (no reliance on too many supports). I know it is a trade off, but it's the underframe and I know most people won't care as much as a few ones about that. If I was producing a resin craftsman kit, be assured no shortcut would be taken, but it's not the case. I'll live with this decision, knowing it makes the product easier to sell.

Second, I know have access to a larger 3D printer that can print a full car as a single part body. This is a great news because it removes a lot of assembly steps that were a little bit tricky. Assembling an open car from flat panels may be not that great for many people. Also, it makes the car sturdier once again. With that said, I'm experimenting with a shell on which ladders, platforms, stirrups and other details like brake chain and fulcrum are molded on. If it works, I'll go that route, if it don't, nothing loss and I revert to my original option with separate parts.

I've got to be pragmatic because people don't want to assemble models and most people interested in operating these woodchip cars aren't the craftsman crowd. That said, I've taken great care so most details visible are accurate, making it possible for modellers with higher standards to improve by adding additional separate details like brake rigging under the car.

I should have a second pre-production model to show soon. And honestly, I'd like to have everything ready for production starting this September.

I'm also working on CN 156000 series 65ft gondolas. The 3D model is ready for pre-production and decals are made. However, that will happen after the woodchip cars are done once for all.

Repainting Ties

Long time ago, I use to weather track following a basic recipe used by Mike Confalone. It was all about spray painting the ties and rails with a dark brown, generally Krylon camouflage brown, then handbrushing various shades of thinned down beige, brown, black, and grey over the ties. It was supposed to create realistic variations in tone. If your familiar with Mike Confalone's work, you know for sure this technique does work and yield great results... except it never worked for me. Ties ended up covered with blotches, not exactly a visually appealing effect.

Ballasted track at Donohue... not impressive.

It's why most of the layout follow another technique often described on this blog with consist of painting the ties white and applying several oil paint washes to build up the color. I've always enjoyed consistent results with this method and it became a standard.

Unrealistic paint blotches.

However, out of laziness, and because the photobackdrop was already in place at Donohue, I never dared to upgrade the track paint. A few months ago, I simply ballasted a few feet of that track and found the result beyond appalling. It was clear we couldn't go that way.

Tracks in the repainting process

To save ourselves some trouble with spray paint cans, we thought about painting by hand each ties with white paint. It is not the fastest procedure out there, but in a single hour, with two people, we painted about 6 feet of track. Given it was a test, I suspect we will be faster next time and think it will probably take about 2-3 hours to complete the scene. It is certainly painstaking, but it only shows that shortcuts taken a few years weren't exactly the best idea.

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).