Edited by KEN CHRYSLER
kenchrysler@yahoo.ca
I would like to take some space in this, my first editorial in Modelers Corner, to introduce myself and to discuss a little about what I see as the role of this department.
First of all my name is Ken Chrysler and my own interest as a modeler is Canadian National around the time of the great transition from steam to diesel. Now this is a huge subject in itself and covers so many different aspects and geographical areas that it may seem overwhelming. After all we are talking about a huge railway with thousands of locomotives, both steam and diesel, narrow gauge and standard ,tens of thousand of route miles in all of the provinces and hundreds of thousand of freight cars, not to mention passenger rolling stock of all descriptions.
How does one focus their interest so that they are not buying everything that catches their eye, and believe me when I say there is a lot out there to spend the hobby dollar on. If you are not careful and selective you can spread the funds too thinly on every attractive model that comes out on the market and find yourself with a hodgepodge of models that in real life would rarely be seen together.
In that regard I have focused my own interest to a specific place and time. I am modeling the CNR in the summer of 1958, in the town of Paris Ontario. Now that is a huge subject in itself . Paris at that time was the location of the mainline coaling facility for the Dundas sub. Being on the busy double track mainline roughly halfway between Toronto and London. During this era most passenger trains and a great many freights were still steam powered. Each of these trains would stop at Paris Junction to fuel and water before proceeding on their way.
Believe me, there is no way for me to afford to buy numerous brass steam locomotives and the hundreds of freight and passenger cars that are required for this location. So as a result I have found it necessary to focus in even tighter on my modeling subject. I have decided to base my layout on the operation of a specific time of day and only model the trains that would appear during that span of time, and by limiting the layout to only one town I avoid the need for a fast clock. I run in real time, one hour on the layout is one hour in reality. If you stand track side for an hour or two, even on the busiest mainline in Canada, chances are good you will only see two or three trains, unless of course you are standing near a large passenger terminal of a major city during the commuter rush. I model the lowly mixed M218 / M219 from Stratford to Brantford and return entering Paris Junction and the Dundas Sub from the Drumbo Sub. It pauses in town to switch the local industries and stop at the station and then leaves after an hour or so. During its time in town a train or two may roll by on the main, maybe even setting off or lifting cars in the process. If it is steam it will fuel and water at the huge coaling tower. If diesel, it will roll on through.
So enough about me and my philosophy. Lets talk about the role of this department as I see it.
First of all this is a space to highlight models of Canadian prototypes. We for the most part will not be discussing American Prototypes unless they have a direct relationship to Canada, running into our country from the US. I can think of a few examples of this off the top of my head such as New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail on the Caso, Pere Marquette/Chessie , Wabash and later Norfolk & Western/NS across southern Ontario, the Delaware and Hudson into Montreal, or say the Union Pacific into British Columbia in the Yahk region. There are others.
We will be highlighting new releases of Canadian Prototypes as they become available on the market, as well as suggesting suitable models that can be made into Canadian subjects.
We will be giving tips on how to be a prototype modeler, do research and find resources of information.
We will be offering articles of prototype interest and how to articles of how to model specific subjects. We will from time to time do reviews of new products.
And last but most importantly we want to hear from you. Send us photos of your work, tell us about how you modeled that prototype, and tell us what you want to see in this department.
I hope you will enjoy reading Modelers Corner each month as much as I will enjoy producing it.
Keep the rails shiny!
Ken Chrysler
[No Photo of Ken]
Coming soon to a Hobby Shop near you!
YOUR MODEL TRAIN STORE BANNER HERE For details contact the editor: editor@canadianrailwayobservations.com
HO/N scale InterMountain Railway
InterMountain has several new releases in HO scale suitable for modeling Canadian subjects. First is a new SD-40-2 in a phase 2 body with 81 inch nose. It will be offered in Canadian Pacific's expo scheme and in Canadian National with IC reporting marks , Grand Trunk Western and in Ontario Northland. Two versions are offered , dual mode DCC/DC without sound and DCC with sound. All roadnames offered in multiple road numbers.
Also a new release of FP7 in CP action red has been announced along with FP-9s in CP and Canadian National, also available will be the F9B in those numbers. These models will be offered in both N and HO scales. Contact www.intermountain-railway.com for details.
A very popular locomotive with railfans, HO scale new from Athearn Genesis is the GP 40-2LW for CN and GP40-2W, available in both GO and CN and planned for late 2013 availability, Athearn's new HO-scale Genesis GP40-2 diesel model will be released without sound in a DCC-ready version for $189.98 or with DCC decoder and SoundTraxx Tsunami Sound system for $289.98. You may visit Athearn online for more information: http://www.athearn.com/
New from Tru-Line Trains is their New York Central wood caboose, which were similar to the cabooses used on the CASO Sub in Ontario. Also announced by Tru-Line Trains is the upcoming release of the Canadian Locomotive Company/Fairbanks Morse C-Liners in both freight 4-axle and Passenger 5-axle versions, these are a totally new offering with updated and more accurate details than in the past. These will be available in both CN and CP where appropriate with some American roads released first. www.truelinetrains.ca
The folks at Rapido www.rapidotrains.com have been very busy as of late with many new products being announced.
First up is the new GMD-1 offered in multiple versions
Bendy Track is a new line of flex track offered in code 70 and code 83 for HO scale.
Also back is the Super Continental Line of coaches.
Announced is the Ultimate Canadian Gondola.
FP-9s are in production and are arriving.
New releases from Rapido Trains and Athearn HO scale models were displayed at SUPERTRAIN in Calgary.
Two scenes from Pierre Olivers' HO scale Canada Air Line/Wabash model railway. Pierre models the portion of line across Southern Ontario from Aylmer to Jarvis. In the top photo an Eastbound caboose hop slows for the stop at Jarvis. The orderboard is set for stop meaning the crew will have to sign for form 31 orders before continuing. Pierre has just installed the working orderboard to enhance operations on his layout. The Jarvis station model was scratchbuilt by the late Rich Chrysler.
More of Pierre's layout and custom modelwork can be seen here www.elgincarshops.com/mylayout.php
The second photo, also of Jarvis shows an eastbound Red Ball freight entering town. The Wabash utilized running rights on the Canada Air Line owned by Canadian National to run across Southern Ontario from Windsor/Detroit to Fort Erie/Buffalo. The Wabash dieselized their Canadian operations using GMD F7A units from London. Note the Tillsonburg trestle on the lower level of the layout.
Dan Dell'Unto modelled this beautiful CP Rail GP-9 with torpedo air tanks and many other modifications to accurately depict the prototype passenger unit.
Dan writes:
“I've always wanted to do one of CP's passenger GP9's, since nobody has done an accurate model of them in HO-scale with the full roof piping and unique air tank arrangement (as most know, CP ordered both dynamic brakes and steam generators on their units, so the air tanks were moved just behind the cab in order to put the full fuel/water tanks under the frame - normally they would be where the DB fan area is).
Because of the similarities between the late GP7 and early GP9, this model started out using some common parts from a Proto 2000 passenger GP7 I had lying around, with a GP9 long hood (backdated to an early Phase 1 version) installed. It was modified and detailed as per photos of early 1970's action red repaint 8523, and painted red with the large multimark and 5" striping. The rooftop piping and air tanks were done using some overhead photos that were hard to come by.”
Look for a more detailed look at how Dan Dell'Unto modelled this unit in his blog
http://dieseldetailer.proboards.com/thread/11817/cp-rail-passenger-gp9
Modeling from the Prototype:
Assorted CN foot box cars.
Train Clubs: The Vermont and Essex Model Railway Club (Montreal, QC)
Sorel – Tracy Model Railroad Club URL COMING
© CRO August 2013