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!

Building the Aston Spur

I imagine the construction of every model railroad begins with a trip to Home Depot. In my case, I went to buy plywood and 1 inch thick home insulation foam blocks (each block being 2 feet square).

Early Days on the spur.

I used foam to deaden the sound of the track and because I had read about using foam as a scenery base. I think the idea of foam as a scenery base originated from an article in MR circa 1993 by one of the hobby's demigods - Bill Darnaby. The only downside to the foam, which many people have discovered, is that certain kinds of spray paint eat it up. I discovered this when spray painting track.

I trimmed the plywood with 1 x 2 studs which came in handy later.

The track 

Two the things that annoyed me about my layouts I had built growing up was how ugly Code 100 Peco track was and how sharp #4 turnouts looked. By "sharp" I mean unrealistically sharp, not sharp as in "handsome".

My first experiment with Code 83 was in building a display case for my Rapido Canadian (a subject for a future post). I had bought Code 83 Micro Engineering pre-weathered flex track for that project and had some left over. I read somewhere that the weathered track did not bend well so I used unweathered track for most of the Aston spur.

For turnouts, I went back to Peco, which has a line of Code 83 #6 and #5 turnouts. I think I went with them because I intended to use DCC and understood that I wouldn't have to solder extra wires (I have no f***ing clue how to solder) to make the turnouts work.

I don't use switch machines on the spur which eliminated a layer of complexity.

I did use cork and foam roadbed, with the track nailed in place. In recent years, the trend seems to be to glue track in place, but I wanted the flexibility to get things wrong. It is very hard to unglue track. One of the annoying bits about the construction method I used is that I had to assemble the cork like a jigsaw puzzle to fit the track plan.

Piecing together the cork.

Have I mentioned yet how much I hate rail joiners? One of the worst parts of trackwork, especially using Code 83 joiners which are impossible to open. I ended up using Code 100 joiners which were only slightly easier. 

Powering it (or OMFG x 2)

Please understand, dear Reader, that I am an Arts Major with a Law degree. I have nearly zero trade skills - such as electrical or carpentry, for example. Computers intimidate me. And I hate reading manuals. 

Going into building the layout, I had two major handicaps:

1. I didn't know how to solder.

2. I didn't know anything about installing DCC. And DCC sounded like something complicated.

Now soldering is not something you want to screw up. There are few MR things worse than a wire coming lose on your layout that you need to re-solder in situ around ballast and scenery (unless you intend to model a small brush fire). Amongst the train gear I had growing up with a box of small bits of track with leads pre-soldered to them. So recalling that, I came across pre-soldering track joiners from Atlas which I used in three locations on the layout.

Problem #1 solved. Onto Problem #2.

Once I decided to use DCC, I know needed to figure out how to wire the layout. Here again, (as with Bill Darnaby) my MR subscription came to the rescue. The December 2016 issue revealed that instead of soldering, one can use "suitcase" connectors to join feeder wires to the bus wire. Where does one find suitcase connectors? Amazon? Home Depot? Car part shops?

The answer was my local train hobby shop - Credit Valley Railway (CVR). 

Thank you Model Railroader!

Not only did I find suitcase connectors at the CVR, but they also explained how to use them and what wiring to use (speaker wire).

As an aside (and this is more for my amusement), I should note that one could really go down the rabbit hole in following the suitcase connector vs soldering debate. Consensus is lacking. If I can summarize it - suitcase connectors may not be reliable long-term and tend to bleed power, whereas soldering connections is more reliable. 

But for me, suitcase connectors meant I could wire the layout in an afternoon. Hot damn!

Next was to find a solid base for the Aston Spur.

 More detail on the Aston Spur

The west end

The "main line" of the Aston spur emerges from under a highway bridge carrying the road to Aston Growers

I curved the track for two reasons:

1. The visual interest of seeing the track fade into the distance.

2. Curving the track created another inch or two of running space.

I would have preferred having staging at the end of the line, but space did not permit that.

Since track on the Aston spur is dead flat, I elevated the road to create some visual interest and to create a cut for the track to run through.

The west end

The track at the forefront is a switching lead. I haven't figured out an "excuse" for the track and as of yet it is unballasted. I thought of adding an industry to the track, but it would complicate switching and I'm not sure I want a full building that close to the layout edge.

The billboard (a Blair Line product) is fun and a vague nod to my profession.

The station area

Coming out of the cut, the line reaches Aston station and a set of structures for the track gang.

Aston station area.

The three structures are from Kanamodel (all CPR prototypes) and the oil tank is from JL (I believe). I've added some junk to reflect the woebegone nature of the line. 

Further details (including adding the station name) will be added.  

Above and behind the station, the road curves and descends into the background.

Empty space

The area between Aston station and the two industries is currently under construction. The idea is for the road to re-appear, linking the station and Aston Growers with the rest of the world. Generic Canning has an empty yard that needs to be filled.

Aston Growers

Aston Growers has a single spur with two loading doors and a single truck loading door. In this imaginary world, the main truck docks are on the other (unmodeled) side of the building.

More on the construction of Aston Growers to come in a later post. The structure was scratchbuilt aside for doors, windows and the sign.

Generic Canning

The as of yet unnamed Generic Canning plant is a major industry with three spurs and an unloading shed.

 

More on Generic Canning to follow. The shed is scratchbuilt and the main structure is a modified George Roberts Printing kit from Walthers.  

The East End

The track "disappears" into the distance underneath the overpass linking Aston Growers and Generic Canning.

The backdrop and its construction will be covered in a later post. I'm happy, however, with the way that the 90 degree backdrop corner is concealed at ground level by the structure arrangement.

Introduction to the Aston Spur (12 30 20)

 

The Aston Spur

Hey there.

In the summer of 2018, I started building a small (2x7) HO scale switching layout in a spare bedroom in my matchbox (condo) located in Toronto, Ontario. Now (December 2020), I have made enough progress on my layout to post it online. I'm also quite bad at documenting things, so I'm using this blog as a way to archive what I've done and learned while building the layout.

I have relied heavily on ideas coming from the many wonderful model railroad blogs out there. Model railroading, like so many hobbies, is both a solitary and community activity. I am building the layout by myself. But my inspiration and ideas have come from a community. Starting a blog is a way to connect with this community.

One final caveat - I am not a natural at blogging or photography. While I'm used to writing, everything else involved in a blog is daunting. So please bear with me as I try to figure all this stuff out.

But...as Marty Di Bergi said at the start of This is Spinal Tap, "Enough of my yakking - let's rock and roll."

The layout concept

First, the trackplan:

Sorry for the crude jpeg. I'll follow with some pictures shortly.

The time period is the early 60's and the railway is the CPR in its tuscan red glory.

The layout is not based on a prototype.

The concept of the layout is a single town (Aston) with two industries.

1. Aston Growers (Cold storage of produce).

2. Generic (name to be determined) Canneries. This industry is inspired by the now closed American Canning Company in Simcoe, Ontario.

There is a walkway connecting the two buildings to emphasize that AG supplies GC with produce.

"Aston" the town is located somewhere in near northern Ontario - Canadian shield country but far enough south for produce to be grown. 

The idea is that the AG and GC are the last two industries on a branchline that has been shortened to Aston. There is enough traffic to merit decently maintained track, but the line is hardly a priority for the CPR's track gangs.

The layout purpose

Less is more. I've always subscribed to the idea that the key to a believable model railroad is that the trains should be overwhelmed by the scenery and not vice-versa. Industries should be big. Track layout should be simple and sensible. And finally, there should be spots on the layout that are pleasing to look at even without trains (what a revolutionary concept).

While I'll expand on this in a future post, I wanted a layout that balanced scenery and operations. Prior to 2018, I had not actively modelled trains for 20 years. So I needed to keep things simple and give myself a testbed for learning the hobby all over again. When I stopped modelling in 1998 or so, I was still in the DC, Code 100, lichen/ragweed/foam era. A lot had happened in the hobby since then.

And like many modellers, I can't help but buy rolling stock and engines even though I don't have a place to run them. Between E-bay True Line Train purchases  (Slab sided hoppers! CPR Reefers) and Rapido (too much to mention), my closets were getting full of rolling stock that needed to stretch its legs once and a while. So, the layout functions as both a test track and a display track.

Finally, I made the decision to join the DCC era. This was something totally new to learn - programing engines, figuring out functions and just generally learning how engines run differently in DCC.

One last thing - I wanted to layout to look nice in its home. To the end, the layout rests on a custom built cart and is trimmed by old barn board. 

Specs

I've already mentioned the prototype is the CPR and the time period is the early 60's.

Size: 2x7

Track: Micro-engineering Code 83.

Turnouts: Peco Code 83 no. 6 ("mainline") and no. 5 (spurs).

Grade: none

Benchwork: insulation foam on plywood.

Height: 38"

Roadbed: Cork and foam

Backdrop: Painted MDF with commercial backdrops and painted backdrops.

Control: DCC - NCE Powercab

Operating the layout 

Because of the small room, all staging is done on the layout. There are 6 car spots - 2 at Aston Growers, 2 on the building track for GC and 2 separate tracks under the unloading shed.

Train length is maximum 3 cars + caboose + engine. The engine is either an Atlas S-2 or a Rapido RS-18. 

Aston Growers receives Reefers and Boxcars. I can't imagine local growers would ship much produce to AG by rail, so only one of the two spots sees regular use for outbound loads.

GC ships canned food out on the building track (2 boxcars) and receives materials on shed track 2 (boxcars/tank cars) and sugar on shed track 1 (slab sided hoppers).

There is a enough room for another car on the building track if I ever decide to model an open load.

I've only had the full track layout to play with for 3 months or so. It has become obvious that switching becomes very tedious if the train has more than 3 cars. 

In my next post, I'll share more about the layout and provide a quick tour.