Workbench Wednesday

Having a couple days off from work, and picking up a few models at my parents place last night I still found time with the sunny weather to do some inside work this afternoon.  Living in an apartment has its challenges for modelling, but with a small piece of plywood, I can have a small mobile workbench of sorts thats easy to keep clean, and also keeps my wife happy content.

Apartment workbench.

I had picked up a Proto 2000 SD60M a few years back that didn't run well at all, but I got it used for a very good price, so I decided to hang onto it and see what I could do with it down the road...  Fast forward to a few days ago and I got thinking about the SD60M again, and figured it was time to try to get it working. My initial plan when I bought it was to use the chassis for a Kaslo SD60F shell in the future.

The previous owner had cemented the shell onto the chassis on one end which resulted in much frustration as I tried to pry the shell off.  By the time I had the couplers unscrewed and off, I was able to pull most of the shell off...with the plow details etc still cemented on nice and tight to the front of the chassis.  I noticed the fly wheels were stuck and rotated them a few times with my fingers, stuck the engine on my test track and after a couple hiccups she really purred.

Back up to my workbench I approached the daunting task of figuring out how to effectively remove the plow and steps.
With a lack of patience comes great frustration (or something like that). Upon attacking the plow, I absolutely destroyed it which I could care less about as I wanted a somewhat clean chassis for my future Kaslo shell.  It took some serious beating at with a screwdriver and an awl and finally my rail nips to get the cursed thing off, but alas, she's ready for a new shell!

Ready for a new shell.

That pile you see in front of the SD60M?  Thats the remains of the plow, steps, and other details that are now all in the garbage.  Alas, I was able to save the MU hoses, and some handrails off the front of the unit.

Detail debris.

You may have noticed my SD40 shell in pieces in the background on my "workbench".  Stay tuned for updates in the near future on that, as it is progressing along slowly but quite well.

SD40 project progress.

Two posts in one week...wow!

- Caleb

UMG Module: Part One

Its been just shy of two months since my last blog post...its time for a new one!

I have not given up my plans of building a layout, rather where I am unsure of exactly what I want to model, I figured I'd do the next best thing and get to work on a module for the UMG, (a local group made up of members from the maritime provinces and Quebec).

I was unsure of what to build and floated various ideas around in my head before finally coming up with what I wanted to model.  There is no rules which state that a member HAS to model an area 100% prototypically, as freelancing is allowed.  However, I wanted the challenge to model prototypically and decided upon the Suburban Propane facility located in Milford, New Hampshire which is no longer serviced by rail.

I have included a photo below of the general area which I will be modelling.  Clearly, the red/maroon line shows where the current tracks lie.

For those that don't know, this is classified as the Hillsboro Branch, currently owned by Pan Am Railways to Wilton, NH, and state owned from Wilton to Bennington.  The Milford-Bennington shortline runs on this trackage from the quarry in South Lyndeborough to Granite State Concrete, located approximately a mile to the right, or railway east of the above photo.  The Milford-Bennington Railway runs from late spring to early fall making two to three rounds trips each day.  Pan Am has only one customer this far up the line, Hendrix Wire, which receives plastic pellet hoppers once a week.  It should also be noted that track speed at best on the branch is 5-10 MPH, with some locations that have restrictions of 3 MPH.

Suburban Propane last received cars in 2006, and did not receive them all that long before then.  So here this spur sits empty now, having not seen any traffic since 2006...a whopping eleven years, but in the future,  they may receive cars again, no one knows for sure...

With the history of Suburban Propane, and a short snippet of the Hillsboro Branch, I will now include an early photo of what the module looked like having just received cork.

Since this photo was taken, there have been quite a few additions...which will be mentioned in another blog post, stay tuned!

Caleb

Changes are Comin'

It has been just over two weeks since my last post, but I have good reason for missing the weekly posts as I was in the United States with my wife for American Thanksgiving.

This post will be short, sweet, and to the point. :)

I have decided to rip up the current track on my module and replace it with Micro-Engineering Code 83, as opposed to the Atlas Code 83 which is what I originally planned on using.  The reason for this is simple.  It has been recommended to me by multiple modellers to use ME as opposed to Atlas as it is more realistic track, and the switches snap world's better than Atlas ones.  It was also recommended that I could just use PECO switches with Atlas flex, however I like uniformity, so ME it is. :)

With that being said, stay tuned for updates as I remove the current track, and lay down Micro-Engineering.  I have Atlas flex for sale, (obviously not full 3 foot sections), and a couple switches too.  If you're interested in purchasing my track, comment below!

One final view of the module with Atlas Code 83 on the module.  This is the track that is for sale.

Oh yes, to our friends south of the border, I hope your Thanksgiving's were full of food and time with family, plus Black Friday deals ;)

- Caleb

Shur-Gain Module: The Vision

To keep up with this one blogpost a week deal, I figured I'd do a short write-up on my one module that I currently have track laid down on.  For those that don't know, this module is meant to represent the spur that once went into Shur-Gain located in Sussex, New Brunswick.

Although I've shared photos of the bare bones module before, I figured I'd share some prototype photos so any who would like to see what the module will hopefully become someday, can see what it once was.  Keep in mind, that this spur is now removed, and the Shur-Gain is now just a simple little store, as the distribution centre has been moved to Moncton.

The following photos below belong to Steve Boyko.  Thanks Steve for the permission to post these!

Shur-Gain Prototype -1 

Shur-Gain Prototype - 2 

Shur-Gain Prototype - 3

Onto a few more photos that I have in my collection, this time from Tim Dryden.

Shur-Gain Prototype - 4 

Shur-Gain Prototype - 5

Thank you to both gents for the permission to use these photos that I can model from.

As for myself, back in the early 2000's I had an old film camera that I remember capturing photos of light power on this spur...I lost the film and I have no idea where the photos went :(

Also, here is an aerial photo of where the spur once was, and the current mainline on the Sussex Subdivision through the namesake town.  The spur is located in the left portion branching somewhat northwest in the aerial photo.

Sussex East, with the Shur-Gain Spur & Weyerhaeuser.

So that's that, now maybe you can get an idea of where I'm coming from with my Shur-Gain module.  Just in case you don't get it, here you go, maybe this can help you envision it.  The plan will be to build the majority of the Shur-Gain facility on another smaller module that will butt onto this current one.

Shur-Gain Prototype & Bare Bones Module.

That about wraps it up!  Hoping to paint a small section of test track this coming week, which will merit another blogpost next Monday!

- Caleb

Track Laying on my First Module

Well its only been 2+ months since my last post...  *sigh*.  Summer is busy, but its no excuse!  I did manage to accomplish something since the last post however...the long awaited first module now has track on it!

For those that are wondering, I'm using Atlas Code 83 flex.  As this is really my first time track laying, I ran into a few snags already.  The first one can be seen below...

Busted ties.

Long story short, I quickly learned that even gently tacking a 'spike' into a solid tie will not cause a hole, but rather a true snap.  After getting a nailset, the progress was still somewhat daunting, albeit doable, as seen below.  And of course, I used a pin vice to begin the holes in each of the ties, it is a learning curve, but I'm starting to get the hang of it!

Round two, perfection!

And now, the finished product, (for now obviously as there is no scenery nor detail done thus far), can be viewed in both overhead and straight-on views below.

Module # 1, take one.

Module #1, take two.

Thats all for now folks!  This was completed back in July, just got around to posting it now.  The next step is to make the rails rusty, stay tuned...

- Caleb

A Visit to Patrick Gagnon's Home Layout/Diorama

Well, so much for the thought of a weekly blogpost...but for now it is remaining regularly once per month, baby steps!

I contacted Patrick Gagnon, an excellent modeller, awhile back about paying him a visit and seeing some of his models along with his small, yet impressive layout in person.  He kindly obliged, and I made the trek to Saint-Leonard, NB yesterday.  Of course, as a railfan I had to check the west-facing home signal at Saint-Leonard immediately after crossing the border, which showed a very clear indication of no westbound trains for awhile.  So it was time to follow Patrick to his house, and see the layout and the models that awaited my camera!

Upon arrival at Patrick's, he and I walked downstairs into his basement and as soon as he opened the door to his layout room, I seriously didn't know where to look first.  Everywhere I turned there was either a finished, gorgeous looking product, or a project in the works.  This was the first scene that I saw as I entered the most impressive room.

Impressive workbench featuring Saint-Leonard Irving sawmill in behind.

I am being completely serious when I say that it took me a solid 10-15 minutes to just look everything over right in this spot.  I was truly impressed as I just looked everything over with drool ready to just drop right out of my mouth...okay so maybe not, but you get the idea!

Any type of pre 90's North American diesel locomotive and chances are, he has either 1) started and completed a kit/kitbash of the model, 2) is in the process of building the model, or 3) plans on getting the proper detailed parts to complete the kit at some point.  Let me just say that this guy knows how to model, and model well!  The assortment of half-completed, fully completed, no where near completed projects lay all over the workbench, each one was impressive in its own super detailed way.

After getting my eyes back in my head, it was time to clean the rails a bit and run some stuff!  As Patrick's layout is arranged as a diorama, there isn't much running to do, but for the little that is available, it has very good scenery.  The first order of business was to bring one of his GP40-2W's out and so after playing with the QSI sound functions, I snapped a couple photos.  I will share a few photos below here to show just how detailed a portion of his fleet is.  I say a portion because I could've spent a full week there photographing each individual model.  The portion where I mainly staged the trains for the photos is in a portion of what Patrick is portraying as modern day Longley on the CN Napadogan Subdivision, located in northwestern New Brunswick.

CN 9637 coupled up to another GP40-2W, staged at CN Longley with a scratchbuilt SGE signal.

With the shoot of the GP40 wide cabs out of the way, I brought out something from the yard that piqued my interest a little bit more, CN 4105, a GP9, and parked it right on the crossing for its 'photoshoot'.

CN 4105, a GP9 idles at the crossing with an impatient driver of a Midland truck on the other side.

There were a variety of more units I 'played' with, I'll share these photos below.

CN 2000 backing down from the crossing.

VIA LRC in run mode awaits a clear signal at CN Longley, with a MOW crew preparing to relay track.

CN 1124, a GMD-1, custom painted blares the horn as the lone unit approaches the busy crossing.

CN 9674 has a train in tow as the light engine movements are done for the moment, allowing a 'real train' to get rolling!

I'll take a few minutes now and discuss how Patrick's yard is set up.  He says that he originally planned to model a small BAR yard, such as Northern Maine Junction, (NMJ), located in Hermon, Maine. However, now he says it could be a representation of either NMJ or Edmundston, New Brunswick.  Regardless, I figured rather than just explaining it, I should document it, so I will have more ideas for my future yard someday, and so you all can see for yourselves! :)

NMJ or Edmundston?

You may notice that there are a collection of cabeese in back...one being a new-to-Patrick, Overland Models kit.  There really is not much else to say about the yard, other than the fact that he says he may add a couple more tracks in time to accommodate better switching.  Also, his 'siding' at Longley will be his yard lead in time.  I was beginning to get short on time at this point, as I had previous commitments, so I wrapped up the day with a couple shots of some 'rare' visitors to Canada ;)

Sister's BAR 85 & 86 sit dead after going into emergency, having just left the Saint-Leonard mill.

MMA 8592 comes to the rescue to pull the two BAR units out of the woods, and return to American soil.

And that about wrapped up the tour of Patrick Gagnon's small but impressive layout/diorama with some truly epic models!

After leaving Patrick's, I took the old highway on the way back to Grand Falls and intercepted CN 305, a manifest train, just west of Grand Falls.  Since I really was strapped for time, I observed it as I met it awhile driving and did a quick mental inventory of the power...of course I jotted it down when I got a chance :)

Hope you enjoyed reading about Patrick's layout, and if you are ever in the area, I am sure he would be open to more visitors.  Thanks again Patrick!

- Caleb