Ottawa Train Expo 2013

Here is a quick video of some photographs I took of the setup and activities at this year's Ottawa Train Expo.  As always, I had a blast and the folks enjoyed themselves interacting with people that love this hobby.

Maison Fairbairn House: Rufus Chamberlin Market

The 150-year-old house of the William Fairbairn family is being transformed into a meeting place and heritage centre They are building a model railway to depict the 1920-1940 era.  To help them move forward I built The Market from Full Steam Ahead.  Enclosed are a few shots of the finished building which will be on display at Ottawa Train Expo this weekend and from there on at the Museum.

 The Kit is out of production.  It was a pleasure to build.  Had great instructions and quality wood.  I added some extra plaster doodads from Hamilton Model Works so there were tons of fruits vegetables and grains.  Thanks Joe for a great kit.  I am sure the Museum will love it on their layout.

HERE'S ONE FOR ERIC

Hi Eric.  Thought I would post a video I took last April of the Canadian in Capreol.  We were at the NMRA Convention and decided to do a day of railfanning.  This was uploaded to youtube in 720HD with a 20 frame rate.  Any comments on the quality would be appreciated.  I am still trying to figure out my .mov conversions.

GREAT WESTERN: INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN EARL

I had the pleasure of visiting Brian Earl's Great Western Model Railroad.  He took me on a tour and we had a super time talking about modelling N Scale and operating his layout.  Brian is a member of NMRA and OVAR.  A great ambassador of the hobby, he has shared his talents with many fellow train folks and we thank him for that.  Come see his portable display at Ottawa train Expo 2013.

BUILDING THE LYON VALLEY NORTHERN

A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE LVN

This is a pictorial record depicting the build of the Lyon Valley Northern.  PART 1 shows the railroad development from the bench work, to the roadbed and track work.  The photos show the progress and captions highlight some of the approaches to the build.  With a general plan in mind and a dedication to daily progress a railroad can emerge rather quickly.  Further records will appear in the near future when I have a chance to go through the photos.  This may encourage some to get started.

Part 2 is a pictorial presentation of the progress on the Lyon Valley Northern from April to December 2006.  The show covers further siding builds, backdrop painting, as well as, lots of information on approaches to creating the Port and Starboard coal mines including scenery considerations.  Hamer's Curve Scenery and the building of the Par 3 thirteenth hole on the golf course.

In Part 3, the Lyon Valley Northern is depicted through photos taken during the building of my layout from January to April 2007.  Lots of progress on structures and scenery.  Visitors and operating groups come by and put the layout through its paces.  Ideas about industry locations are bandied about to try to set up an interesting operating scheme.  More backdrop painting and scenery development in Richmond Yard. As well as completion of the Port Mine and golf course area.  Always working from the walls out.

This pictorial record shows progress on the Lyon Valley Northern from May to Oct 2007.  Scenic blocks, numerous structures and a vertical perspective project are demonstrated with step by step photos and captions. New rolling stock and power are introduced.

In this episode the progress moves along the back wall.  Additional structures are built.  Step by step painting of the backdrop in Shelby.  Adding scenic materials into Shelby Yard.  Also there are a few photos of the Friday Night Group.

In this part in 2008, scenery making is explained as I completed the area along the back wall in Shelby.  The farm is started in the other corner.  The beavers get their pond and I build my first wood lasercut craftsman kits.

From Nov 2008 to Nov 2009, I had the opportunity to work in the Edmonton Yard and terminal Area.  The focus was in creating depth using buildings, trees and scenic blocks.  Also this is the year Switcherama was introduced.  There is a pictorial record of building the cattle feed pen and barn yard on a base with ideas for farm detail/scenery.  As well as craftsman Structure Elspeth Tower is built in honour of my eldest daughter who was serving in a field medic in a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan.

The Spring of 2010 was full of operations as well as adding Newby Chemical Storage and Walton's Lumber distribution.  Storage tanks are assembled and painted while the beginnings of the BNSF servicing area are dry-fitted.  This was a busy time for me as I had other commitments to module construction, craftsman structure dioramas and painting backdrops and figures for friends.  nevertheless there always was time to run trains.  After all..."Every day is train Day".,



Sept - Oct 2010 was a busy time on the LVN.  Numerous projects were undertaken in the Shelby Area.  BNSF servicing was completed, the Grain Elevators were weathered and planted.  Farmer's Co-Op siding was installed.  The highlight is a blow by blow description of a scenicing process used in the creation of "Swamp Lake" and "Radio Hill".

This segment features scenes around the layout, some roster shots as well as the building of the Shelby Station area.  Some ideas on using wood stains for craftsman structures are highlighted, as well as details are shown that tell a story.  FOS scale Tower One, The Rooming House and City Station were used to create the scene.    For Christmas I got curtains.  My wife Lela previously painted the benchwork grey to match the ceiling and now sewed matching grey curtains which went a long way to hide the clutter under the layout and formalize the room.  The grey ceiling, layout edge curtains and carpet all come together to create a cheerful environment.

Friday Night Group Ops Session

 

 

Our March Ops session had a reduced crew because of March Break.  The guys had fun as some were on their own doing both the engineer and conductor jobs.  There are some unique helicopter views of the action.  A view not taken before.

 

SWITCHING BROWN AND VANADIUM

Brown is the first passing siding and water tower out of Ridgeway.  The town siding occasionally has a  rail car waiting for pickup.  On this day the train to Rico has to conduct some interesting switching maneuvers to do the lift.

 

The Vanadium siding is owned and controlled by the US Army.  There is heavy security so RGS is not permitted to enter the mine and processing plant with their locomotives.  The Army's switcher does all the work and it is seen doing the lifts and drops for the Ridgeway to Rico Freight.