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!