In the news...

Ruh-Roh!

From the June 17, 1964 edition of the Aston County Recorder:

    "A local CPR freight train hit a van that wandered onto the tracks 

    yesterday near Aston. The occupants of the van, 2 men, 2 women 

    and a large Great Dane were shaken but otherwise unhurt. The driver 

    of the van, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, claimed, "the gang, was like 

    checking out the spooky old building [Generic Canneries], when like this

    ghost got in the train and started driving toward us!."

    Police may have another explanation. A small quantity of biscuits were 

    found in the van and have been sent to the crime lab for testing. Toxicology

    results for Mr. Rogers are also pending.

    A spokesperson for Generic Canneries, Malcroft Withers emphasized that the        building is a going concern and that trespassing charges may be filed                   against Mr. Rogers and the rest of the gang. Mr. Withers said, "Generic 

    Canneries has enough troubles without a bunch of no good kids nosing                around." 

 A cart for the Aston Spur

In the early days, the plywood/foam base sat on two folding tv dinner tables.

Not ideal.

Note the folding tables.

I live near the Junction in West Toronto. The Junction got its name as the meeting place for the CPR's North Toronto line (with a line down to Union Station and the beginning of its Transcon line North) and CN's Weston Sub. The area is still very active with trains - CPR's Lambton yard and the Weston Sub's stream of GO Trains, UP Express trains and Via.

Dundas St. W. in the Junction area has lots of little shops. At the time, I was buying furniture from Forever Interiors: https://www.foreverinteriors.com/. They make furniture from steel and old re-finished wood. Their work is gorgeous (although they've moved locations since).

I got to know the owner and asked him to custom build a train cart for me. The cart does the following:

1. Acts as a solid base for the layout.

2. Gave me additional storage space.

3. Helps the layout "blend" into the room.

4. Has wheels to enable me to move the layout around a bit.

It cost about $1000, which was a bargain. The steel/wood combo gives it a rustic industrial look.

Note the trim.

I found six crates at Home Depot to store scenery materials and rolling stock underneath the layout. I later bought a rolling cart from Staples for additional storage space (the green cart below).

As an added touch, I bought some old barn board from Forever Interiors to use as trim for the layout. The trim disguised the plywood/foam base. I recessed my DCC panel in the trim. You can see trim installation in progress in one of the photos above. Here the studs I had previously installed came in handy as they supported the screws for the trim. I sealed the barnboard to eliminate splinters and protect some of the damaged parts of the wood.

There is just enough clearance between the trim and the boxes to enable them to be removed easily.

The cart may not sound like a big deal, but when you live in a small condo every inch of space helps. I also don't like a cluttered look and a 2x7 blob in a small (9 x 10) room can take over very quickly. 

The cart was a very satisfying part of creating the layout. It looks great. It saves space. The specs worked out perfectly - who knew I would find boxes that fit the shelves perfectly. And the barnboard trim was a beautiful finish. And I supported a local business.

One last touch is the art above the layout. My Stepfather (a bit of a pack rat) gave me two very appropriate pieces of vintage railroad publicity that were in amazing shape despite being over 60 years old. I had them framed and they live above the layout. 

1955 CN System Map

A 1955 brochure for the Canadian

The cart arrived in September 2018. By this point, I had finished the track and installed DCC. I was now ready for scenery!