Track planning blues

[sailormatlac]

I'm probably not alone to have this problem... It's been YEARS, about 2 decades since I'd like to really built something neat at home. Many failed attempts are documented here on Big Blue! ;-)

When I design for others (read here the club layout), I habitually have no problem getting inspiration. But when it's time to fill this empty shelf behind my desk, I'm at loss... Maybe I put the bar to high, maybe I try too much to get the perfect gem in so little place (about 2' x 9', which is relatively spacious for a small ISL, with a 3 feet long provision for switching lead).

Most of the time, I'd like to do something about the QRL&PCo, build a small layout that would be the epitome of this railway. Something that would catch the essence of the locale. Over the last 4 years, I filled up many folders with countless theoritical layouts. But none, so far, satisfied me. The problem with QRL&PCo is that most of the time, it's a single track mainline running in flat open fields. All buildings were on the same side of the track and spaced far away from each other, except a few notable exceptions (Giffard and Villeneuve, modelled on the club layout). A lot of nice industries existed, but still, you could hardly get them together and still feel that sense of the place.

Château-Richer (my hometown) had many saw mills, a gravel pit, a koalin clay mine and a distillery. All of them, very far from each other. The sole surviving industry was a saw mill that is still active. It's where I first saw railway operation as a kid. I've got found memories of the place and would love, one day, to reproduce it. However, I feel like it mainly a diorama and that I would quickly lose interest in it. The following layout have not suffered any compression. Everything is at scale. That could be interesting in some way.



Ste. Anne had a lot of trackage, a quite large loco shop and a few industries (oil dealer, grain elevator, team track, bulk material for buildings), it could be my best bet, but also, it would feel crowded in no time. The layout track plan you see is the real deal, no selective compression, all lenght and building size is correct.



Beaupré was located between a highway overpass and a large river (opportunity for a bridge). A large distillery, an interchange with the electric dam siding, a team track and a freightshed. With all turnouts facing the same direction, I'll stay that could be the best bet. The river and overpass makes excellent scenic dividers that could frame the scene. Others place on the line didn't have that much thing that could work like that.



Some times, I just think I should look somewhere else. Then I wander on the border of Quebec and New England were lots of railway interchanged between our two countries (and still do). Maine Central, Rutland, Boston & Maine, Central Vermont, Delaware & Hudson, name it. And to boot, these are among my favorite US railways. There, you can find small villages with sizeable industries, rails curling around hills, small rivers, dam... A lot of interesting feature to model. And the best part, I could use my more "modern" rolling stock from the 60s and 70s, and God knows I've got a lot of cars from New England's railways. BTW, Cookshire was a interchange place with Maine Central.

If you're curious, just take a look here, it may inspire a lot of you.

http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/docum...542_01.tif

I've tried to model a lots of these villages in the past. Recently (today), I was checking Paul Delamere Google Earth Map Project of canadian railways and tumbled on Cookshire, a small city were I once worked (rebuilding a supermarket). Almost a dream come true. The insurance map shows a single stall roundhouse (well, a turntable with a shed!), a nice little station, a large sawmill and a rail-served gravel pit (I don't kown why, but I love sand and gravel pits, I played in them so much as a kid). The thing is located on CPR Atlantic & Northwestern and Hereford Railway.

Well, here I am, at loss, facing lots of opportunities. And I think about what I've learned at the club in the late months: it's when I give myself some room to interpretation and lower my expectation that I end up the most satisfied...

For an ISL, I'm always asking myself what would be the most enjoyable: a busy little city with interchange and insdustries or a simple industry located on a main line or an industrial spur (like my Industrial Avenue layout from last year).

If you're at loss like me, feel free to comment, feel free to criticized the small ISL posted here! Who knows, something could happen!

Matt, asking himself if he will really complete something someday!!! ;-) I'd feel really happy if I could settle on a plan.

*** While checking up maps, I found out it was MEC line connecting with Dudswell Junction and Lime Ridge on Quebec Division. I once planned a layout around this interchange with Quebec Central. There was an interesting quarry operation there. Old folks call this MEC line "raspberry line" (la ligne des framboises) because it crossed wilderness and fields of rasphberries. If my memory is right, this line connected passenger trains from Quebec City to Portland and Boston in early 1900s (my memory could prove me wrong though). I remember reading an old Quebec Central advertising for tourists. They started in Boston, then skiied in the White Mountains then ended their trip in Quebec City.