The Prototype

It occurred to me that some of you reading this blog may be unfamiliar with the prototype Northern Alberta Railways so here is a map and some links to web sites that can teach you more about the N.A.R.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Alberta_Railways

The Wikipedia article.

http://www.r2parks.net/NAR.html

is a short overview of the history of the N.A.R.

http://railways.library.ualberta.ca/AlbertaLines/

is the U of A’s site that will give you access to an in depth history of the early railways that the N.A.R. was made up of and the history of the line once it was formed.

If you wish more information I highly suggest the books “Ribbons of Steel” by Ena Schneider and “North from Edmonton: The Northern Alberta Railways” by Keith Hansen.

And the Booklets "Northern Alberta Railways" volumes 1, 2 and 3. by Colin K. Hatcher and Cecil Swanson.

Happy hunting!

Mike.

Initial Modules

So far I have built 4 of my module bases: The Peace River Bridge, what I call Peace River Industrial, the Peace River Depot (the corner module) and the Heart River Bridge modules.

I made my module bases out of steel stud and foam tops. Even at 30” by 90” the modules end up being extremely light weight and sturdy. I can lift a 30” by 90” module easily with one hand. By very scientific means (standing on the bathroom scale with and without the module) I weighed a standard 30x90 module, including the legs and cross-braces, and it came out to 20 pounds; 10 pounds for the module and 10 for the legs and braces. I estimate that the completed module will weigh about 5 to 10 pounds more once all the track, wiring, facia, backdrop and scenery items are in place. I find that 25 to 30 pounds per module is still a very manageable weight, especially given the size. This is even lighter than I had expected. I had originally planned to use 2x4 type steel stud (1 ½” x 3 ½”) instead of the 2x3 type (1 ½” x 2 ½”) I ended up building with. Aside from the weight advantage, frames made of this material are ideal for "mobile" layouts because they will not twist, shrink and swell over time like wood will when subject to different moisture levels.

Cutting is easy using tin snips         

The steel stud has proven to be more than sturdy enough to support the weight and be able to handle the stresses of being moved about. Once the 2” Styrofoam top is in place there is very little flexing in the module and with the legs attached there is none at all. This was of paramount importance because the future scenery would not withstand any twisting or bending. The 1/8^th inch Masonite I will be using for the facia and backdrop will add even more rigidity to the structure once it is attached. During planning I was afraid that the module centers and ends may droop but they proved to be extremely stiff along their lengths.

Bare Frame        

1x4’s attached to simple 2x2 legs with 1x2 cross-braces make a good stable platform for each module. Given the light weight of the modules I probably could get away with substituting the 1x4’s for 1x2’s but it’s always good to have a little too much than not enough. Each 2x2 leg has a 3/8” hole drilled into the center of the bottom to a depth of about 1 ½”. I hammer a 3/8” tee nut to this hole and use a 1” long 3/8” bolt to allow for fine tuning of the module height. On the head of the bolts I stick self-adhesive felt pads to protect the flooring material. I initially bought these pads at the hardware store but then found them much cheaper at the local “Dollarama”.

Frame on legs (later the cross braces were changed from 2x2 to 1x2)           

The whole assembly is bolted together with 5/16” bolts and wing nuts; 4 bolts attaching the legs to the module frame and 4 more attaching the cross braces to the legs. The cross braces serve two purposes; they stabilize the module against side to side sway and keeping the legs a uniform distance apart. There is some twisting possible in the studs that the legs are attached to and they are not perfectly square to the module in some cases so the cross braces are necessary to correct this.

Completed modules together (cross braces yet to be attached)          

viewed from the backdrop side of the heart river module         

The modules themselves are attached to each other with 2 more 5/16” bolts between the edges of each module to either side of the point where the rails will meet. The layout then becomes even more solid, betraying its flimsy look. I didn’t bother to make the spacing of the interfaces uniform as these modules will always be assembled in this order and configuration.

View from the backdrop side of the Peace River Depot module             

and behind me a very tolerant wife saying "can I have my house back now?"           

I will be building 2 more 30x90 modules shortly and I will document the construction of each in great detail on a future posting so… stay tuned.

Mike

The Vision

     Reading my father's Model Railroader magazines filled me with ideas. From the age of 8 I drew track plans and more track plans... all of which, inspired by the pictures and plans from the magazines. I had no overall goal... only to get the trains running so the plans varied from loops to shelves to basement empires. Burlington Northern seemed to me to be a "neat" prototype, for no other reason than "I liked the colors". Finally, in 1979 Model Railroader published their Clinchfield project railroad and it captivated me... N scale, modular, lightweight, portable, prototypical and well researched! I combed the articles over and over again wanting to absorb it all.

     Christmas of 1980 found us in Vancouver. I was 11, and I convinced my father to take me for a short ride to a hobby shop I had discovered in the small print ads at the back of his magazines. Pacific N Scale in North Vancouver. I couldn't sleep the night before. I imagined a giant store, teaming with display cases and dioramas with all manner of N scale wonders. The shop was actually an 8 foot counter tucked into the back corner of a bookstore with a man behind it. We, the customers, stood in the 30 or so inches between it and small shelves crammed with N scale items... but I was not disappointed.

     This was MY trip to the hobby shop and, for the first time in my life, the clerk addressed ME and not my escort. He showed me great things... Shinohara's prototypical code 70 track and #7 switches were brand new as was the Atlas RS-2 and both were demonstrated to me on a 3 foot length of flex test track set up on the counter. Up until that time my experience with model trains had been that of our Aurora (Trix) "Postage Stamp" F9 growling, jumping and jacking along antiquated sectional track and through our sole turnout which, looking at it now, seems to be about a #2 or #3. This machine was totally different, crawling silently from tie to tie, handrails to scale and details so fine that I had to squint to see them. Before this, if you wanted smooth running N scale engines it involved the destruction and rebuilding of the only two decent mechanisms available (Con-cor's PA-1 and the Trix U-Boat) by a master craftsman who, judging from the articles written about it, had to be a cross between a miniature machinist and the Wizard of Oz. Even then the aesthetics were crude: Molded on details and oversized flanges with very little choice in terms of body styles unless you were the magician mentioned above and could somehow cram the mechanism into your kitbashed body shell.

     I left the little shop (which would one day evolve to become the shop I dreamed of in the form of Pacific Scale Rail in New Westminster) with an arm full of Shinohara products: a dozen lengths of flex track, a 3 switch yard ladder and enough switches to build myself a small shelf switching layout I had been planning. My father left, I believe because of my interactions with the clerk, with the understanding that my passion for the hobby had now eclipsed his and was of great importance to me. Also in hand was the Model Railroader compilation of the Clinchfield series of articles in booklet form with bonus content. It was a "Merry Christmas" indeed! The trip back home to Saskatchewan was very quiet for the rest of my family... I was too busy reading and dreaming to be of any kind of nuisance to anyone.

     I built the small shelf layout on a 7' by 15" length of plywood. CN was the prototype (because that was what my F9 and Bachmann GP-40 were) but the rest was freelanced. "Off the shelf" buildings and rolling stock populated it but it was never finished to the point of scenery as teenaged antics overtook my life before this could be completed. The years went by with not much to do about model railroading aside from the odd "railfanning" here and there. The models were put away and my shelf stood in a corner, unused. I never forgot the dreams I had had; I only set them aside until I would be able to do them justice.

     My move to Red Deer at the age of 19 revived my modeling bug due to the effect of boredom brought on by being separated from my long-time friends. It was at this point that I began to seriously seek out a prototype to follow... Red Deer offered some interesting scenery and operation, Kindersley's CN operations I had a connection with but then... I remembered the grey, yellow and blue of the N.A.R. locomotives as they worked the Peace River valley. So, I researched and the more I researched the more I found that the N.A.R. in the Peace country fit my needs: Unique engines, the short line feel, the interaction with the "Big Boys" (CN and CP), the incredibly interesting operations and scenery in the Peace valley, a rich and colourful history and my personal connections with the railway all intertwined with memories from my childhood. It was perfect!

     So I continued my research and eventually plans were made to fill an 11' by 17' room in the basement. The model would be highlighted by scenes from my younger days of trips to the area and locations of personal importance to me: The gas station in Fawcett my father seemed to always stop at, no matter what time it was. My great grandfather's old mill site that is now the family campgrounds near Donnelly. My great uncles farm at the entrance to Donnelly along with my grandfather’s dealership in town. The alfalfa plant in Falher. My grandfather's homestead and uncle's farm in St. Isadore. The Heart River bridge which, to me as a child, seemed to float in mid-air and, located at the south end of it, a small house that, when I was 4 and 5 years old, I concluded was where my imaginary friend "Johnny Horton" lived (probably because, to me, it seemed inaccessible except by the traversing on foot of the bridge and therefore my sisters would not discover my deceit they so often quizzed me about). Other scenes I wanted to include were in the town of Peace River itself: The KFC by the station that was thought to be such a treat to stop at. Fred's bakery which was fun to open the door of just to get a nose full of the wondrous scents that emanated from it. The gas station by the trestle at the entrance to town which no longer existed and.... without a doubt... the "Dog House" drive-in... which had the soft ice-cream that was the highlight of any trip to "Peace". Further down the line would be Roma, the yard we would fly over on the overpass while traveling back home to High Level and Fairview and High Level's industrial area where I had spent much time watching trains, many years before.

Track plan from 1988

     One scene I wanted to include that was not from my history was the mine at Pine Point, which I had never seen. The "empties in, loads out" operations that I had learned about in the Clinchfield series could be reproduced here, right down to the helix which connected the two ends of the system so that the illusion of empty cars entering the mine and loaded ones coming out could be most effective. Staging was also a large part of the operational scheme in that early plan. I look back on the track plan now and find it surprising that I placed so much importance on this as, at the time, the use of staging in model railroads was a luxury or an afterthought only found on those systems with more than ample space available and used solely by those who demanded realistic operations above all else... which I did not. To me, the recreation of the scene was of utmost importance. The trains and the operation thereof only the setting for those scenes... A means to an end.

     This plan never developed any further than paper as time, space, money and, mostly, women conspired to confine my dreams to the vestibules of my mind. Later, when I was long haul trucking, I filled the endless hours I spent behind the wheel scheming for a way to release these dreams in the form of a real, live model railroad. That was when my current idea for the layout was born.

Current plan showing the module layout

Modules are 30" x 90" 

Actual track arrangement, Peace River, 1979... as far as I can tell

(courtesy Google Earth)

     Again, I reverted to what I had learned from the Clinchfield project. Light weight modules of metal frames and foam scenery, created for display that were easily transported and... STORED!!! Of course!!! I could store my railroad when not in use!!! The answer to the space problem, and transport it to places where I could collaborate with other, like minded, hobbyists (aka "weirdo’s") like me. The options were almost limitless! The concessions I had made in earlier plans could be thrown out the window! No more compressing the Peace River Bridge to 3 feet long or unrealistic scenes, that were supposed to be vast, crammed into little corners, or the omission of vital trackwork because space did not allow. I could have it all; the scenes I wanted, the operations I had neglected, the accurate portrayal of the prototype, the interactions with other modellers and, most of all, the ability to use N scale to its full potential by truly dwarfing the trains with their surroundings.

Mock up of the Peace River modules

Below is a concept drawing of what I would like to accomplish.

(The skirting being the finishing touch) 

Space problem... Solved!

Now... onto other problems...

Time,

Money...

 and, of course, Women... the consumer of both!

    

Background

My Background:

I was born in 1969, in Peace River Hospital while my family lived in the remote community of Rainbow Lake Alberta, in the far north west corner of the province. From then until 1975 we lived in Fairview and High Level. Frequent visits to family and friends were made during that time period to the Peace River region as my mother's family was in the St. Isidore area and my father's from Donnelly.

In 1975 our family moved to Quebec for 5 years but continued to visit the area every summer, usually for a month at a time. In 1980 we moved back west, and our visits to the Peace country grew more frequent. First to Kindersley Saskatchewan and then, finally in 1988, we ended up back in Alberta, at Red Deer.

During this entire time my memories filled with images of the railroads of northern Alberta. I was linked to them in several ways: My great grandfather (father's side) had come to Donnelly when it was the end of steel from the Morrinville area and installed his lumber mill there. Contracts with the railroad and associated businesses for lumber were common and many members of the family still remain in the area farming and conducting business. My father's father was the Case farm implement and Studebaker dealer in Donnelly and he had many stories of equipment and vehicles arriving by rail on flats and in boxcars to be assembled on the side ramp. My father even spent some time working the elevators there and in Falher. My grandfather (mother's side) worked seasonally for years on N.A.R. section gangs out of Peace River (his yellow motor car being called a "putt putt machine" by myself and my sisters). Farming was his prime vocation and continues to be for my uncles and cousins in and around the area. While living in Fairview I could watch the trains from the living room window switching cars at the elevators and, while in High Level, the locomotives of the Great Slave Lake Railway passed just east of my father's shop, with long strings of yellow ore cars and gondolas in tow. Trips through the Peace River valley were punctuated by the views of the wondrous bridges and scenery that presented themselves to the child peering out the car windows to catch a glimpse of the great machines rolling down the tracks.

More connections to the railways came as an adult after 1995 when I moved to Falher and bought an old house directly south of the UGG elevator there. Sunday nights were spent with my sons watching the switching taking place through the back door window, my 3 year old so excited that he wouldn't sleep until the "do-do's" were done their chores. In 1997 I purchased my own truck and began a 4 year stint hauling grain, my parking spot visible in the upper picture on page 146 of Keith Hansen's book "North from Edmonton". In that time I had the good fortune of hauling loads to and from most of the elevators along the western N.A.R., north-eastern BCRail and GSLR rights of way before they were erased from our collective scenery by that unfortunate thing called "progress". The rails behind my house changed hands and went from CN to Railink, to Mackenzie Northern and then back to CN so we got to see some unique equipment in those days; SD7's, lease units of all kinds and even Railink's F unit which, when I pointed it out, my boys did not believe was an actual locomotive!

N scale model railroading was also in my blood. My father had been fascinated by it when he first saw the models in the late 60's which began decades of collecting magazines and models for an eventual layout (most of which I still have). Unfortunately, he has never had the chance to realize his visions as time, money and space have never aligned to allow it. As a child, I was enamoured by these models, as any child is, and hoped that one day they would come to life.

Disclaimer: Throughout this blog there may be photos used that are copyrighted. If you have an objection to these images being used for the purpose of this blog please let me know and the offending photo(s) will be removed or properly accredited, as you wish.