Quebec South Shore Railway

[sailormatlac]

It is no secret, 2 weeks ago, I was in quite a slump. The club layout isn't very exciting in its half destroyed look right now and I needed I new project to try a few ideas and scenery technics. I was reading GEC's post about his actual feeling toward the hobby. I could have written all that myself! I see this new project as a way to cure my perfectionist disease which caused many exciting projects to die too soon. With the new project, I follow one motto: try your best but move forward if achieving perfection will halt the project.

Blog address is http://theendofsteel.blogspot.ca/



For this reason, the layout is loosely based on typical small time rail-served town that can be found anywhere on Quebec South Shore, particularly on Drummond Sub and between Charny and La Pocatière. A mainline, a siding for a feedmill and some disused team track. No need to search a prototype because it's so prototypical! However, it is inspired by real life place I went, so call it protofreelanced. I named it St. Pamphile because it was supposed to be a South Shore town that was to be linked to Quebec Central Railway but these plans were folded because of WW1 and the 1930s Depression.



Inspiration is various, mainly modellers doing New England roads (Confalone, MikeC), Trevor Marshall, Chris Nevard (UK) and many others like Jon's Sweethome Alabama (looks like we are many to follow these folks). I'm trying to go for very low track density. In Quebec City area, track density was never very high except in the downtown, everywhere else, it is mainline running throught fields and woods (euh, Canada!).

The concept was quickly pinned down using tracks and buildings I already had on hand. In fact, those buildings were my first try at scratchbuilding when I was about 13 to 16 years old. Thought they are quite old, I still like these structures because they are based on local industries I liked back then. They also have a very local flavour that help to set the layout in Quebec and not in the Prairies, New England or Midwest.



The track plan is nothing more than a runaround and a feed mill siding. Trains emerge from a highway overpass. Beyond there is a single staging track, merely an extension of the mainline. The concept was to model a end of line spur. A semi-abandonned branchline turned into a simple industrial siding. The scenery is very generic and can fit a vast array of era from the mid-50s to the mid-90s, only needing to replace rollong stock and vehicles. The goal is to fit my tastes has they evolve and give me a nice diorama to shoot my locomotives and cars. That means New England roads, CN, CP and others.



The layout is built on two modules of 18" x 80" (hollow core doors with a 1" thick styrofoam board). Track is PECO 83. I prefer their products, they are easy to work with and even if they have small details, they are quite sturdy which isn't the case with Atlas.

Power is supplied by a NCE Powercab DCC throttle to simply things.

So far, I like the experiment. In less than 2 weeks, I have achieved to reach scenery. In fact, after 1 day, I was able to operate. Operation sessions last between 15 to 45 minutes depending on how many cars I switch. That's fine with me.

The layout height is 39" because my office room is located in a gable. But that's just fine because I can operate sitting on my chair at eye level and when I work on the layout, it's quite comfortable.

This new layout should be an excellent practice before rebuilding the club layout (Hedley-Junction) into something nearer to our intentions. In that regards, a fellow club members found dozen of pictures recently and that could be a key to plan a new track plan.

Enjoy!

Matt

[faraway]

....The layout height is 39" because my office room is located in a gable. But that's just fine because I can operate sitting on my chair at eye level and when I work on the layout, it's quite comfortable....
Matt

So is mine in my home office. You will see long telephone conferences will get a new quality...... (make sure your phone can be muted )

[alcanman]

I like the spacious look you've acheived in such a small area, Matt. The half hidden run around is great idea too.

Like my layout, Westbrook, which has 2 spurs, it's quite surprising how long it takes to switch both industries.

Looking forward to seeing your progress with the QSSR.


Mal

[Tyson Rayles]

[Catt]

Looking good Matt,and thanks for the idea now I have a plan to add a new industry via a switchback to my big home layout.

[jonte]

Hi Matt,

Looking great already. I love the simplicity of it all and especially the muted colours. I'm going to try and do the same with mine by keeping the palette limited.

I employed the same philosophy as you when making some buildings about 12 months ago: 'learn to live with it and move on'. I've achieved so much more since adopting this attitude, making the hobby more enjoyable by removing most of the angst.

Oh, and ditto for your list of modellers plus several from Big Blue who I shaln't name to save embarrassment

I'll enjoy watching this develop.

jonte

[sailormatlac]

Thanks guys!

@Mal: I'm always surprised how your Westbrook module looks larger than it really is and doesn't look compressed at all. One thing I found out during my few short operating sessions is that each session is different. It's funny to see how many scenerios can be created around two sidings. Unfortunately, I also found out operating with sound locomotive really bring life to small layouts.

@Jonathan: Hope I didn't open a can of worms for you!

@Jonte: Big Blue is probably the most friendly place to get ideas. My modelling output decupled since I joined... I only need to complete what I start!

Keeping the layout small helps me to focus without being overwhelmed. I'm not happy with some parts, but it's best to move forward and change them later when I'll have more time.

You are right about muted colors. I'll probably set the scenery somewhere in late April-early May. CP Rail colorful cars looks best when they are set against a muted environment. I'm particularly curious to try some scenery technics done by Gordon Gravett. His dirt and asphalt roads look so great.

Matt

[sailormatlac]

I worked on the road tonight, using a mix of Mindheim and Gravett's technic to make the road. So far, results outdid my expectations. Still lot of weathering to do and also to glue in place the road.

The road itself is made with illustration board and painted with Krylon Camouflage beige and Krylon gray primer. After taking the pictures, I used gloss enamel topped with talc powder to better represent recent asphalt patch on the street.

Next step is to paint road lines.









And some railfanning!



Matt

[jonte]

That method certainly shows its pedigree.

Very convincing, Matt.

jonte

[Genetk44]

Matt...when I got interested in model railroading 14 years ago I started with the very common north american idea of lots of track, complex trackplan, big scenery, big layout...until I ran across an article by a name from my childhood back in the 1970s.....Chris Ellis who has been involved in most aspects of modelling and modell railroading in particular. He is a huge proponent of smaller is better....he has written many articles expounding on the pleasures and the benefits and advantages about small layouts with very simple trackplans and keeping things simple. You have mentioned many of those advantages youreslf. All that to say....I love these simpler layouts and when they are well done find them of far more interest than huge basement empires. I look forward to following this project of yours.

Cheers
Gene

[FCIN]

I love these simpler layouts and when they are well done find them of far more interest than huge basement empires.
Gene

Couldn't agree more! This is shaping up to be a really great looking layout with a simple, yet interesting theme and clearly shows what can be accomplished in a small space. I abandoned any notion of again trying to fill the basement with a large layout that would probably never get finished, in favor of doing a simple, yet prototypical industrial switching operation - that I might actually get to a finished state before I'm called to the roundhouse in the sky. Will be watching this thread with great interest.

[Catt]

Matt,

This is the part of your layout that has given me a idea I can use to fill some empty space.The track you have marked as a team track is the mainline on my layout.That center turnout is a very long lead to a Bagel factory.The turnout on the left will give me a chance to install another industry in the open space. Thgis part of the layout is 9' long and looks kind of silly with only one building way over on the left end of it. :mrgreen: So thank you for the inspiration.

[sailormatlac]

Thanks guys! Good to see this kind of "insignificant small endeavour" can gather such interest.

Couldn't agree more! This is shaping up to be a really great looking layout with a simple, yet interesting theme and clearly shows what can be accomplished in a small space. I abandoned any notion of again trying to fill the basement with a large layout that would probably never get finished, in favor of doing a simple, yet prototypical industrial switching operation - that I might actually get to a finished state before I'm called to the roundhouse in the sky. Will be watching this thread with great interest.

Until recently, I was always blaming a lot of exterior circumstances to stay a semi-armchair modeller: the house weird geometry, lack of time, lack of "a great prototype to fully replicate", etc. Honestly, it was getting tiring and I really wanted to try many things for once. I never fully completed a layout except my first layout as a child. So keeping simple is a good reason to move forward, have fun and evolve in the hobby. Better small than a big dream that goes nowhere. I'm always amazed how great basement filling layouts habitually shine throught a very few select, small and simple scenes.

@Gene: The great thing about going small is that the scene is less crowded and have better proportions, making it visually larger and more prototypical. Each day I find new photographic spots on the layout.



My layout is heavily inspired by the old grain elevator near Route Lagueux in St-Nicolas (east to Charny) on CN mainline on Quebec South Shore. At this very place is a typical exemple of a highway access road concrete overpass built in the early 60s when Quebec was developing its highway network.

I've always found it a nice locale when I was a kid and my father would drive us to a aunt living in the area. When I was 4 years old (circa 1987), I was absolutely convinced I saw two steam locomotives there and draw them back home... They had orange cabs and CN wet noodle on the tender! I think I probably saw some old MLW units in wet noodle which was unusual for me since I only knew about the zebra them back then!!!

Anyway, I decided to make a replica of it to hide the staging area.

The prototype was measured with Google Earth help. Deck and piles are made out of 1/4" MDF. Lots of fun on the table saw! Well, in fact, it was more straight forward than I anticipated.

MDF parts were glued together with carpenter glue and illustration board was used to define the underside of transversal girders. They would be used as lost form when pouring plaster.

I finally used plaster of Paris to fill the gaps and get an even surface. The back of a saw was used to shape correctly the plaster. Some rough spots are there, but I'll keep them to represent crumbling concrete (eh! Quebec is famous for it's sh*tty concrete infrastructures and poorly built roads... looks like 400 years isn't enough to learn the lesson up there!!!). Joke aside, it will help to get a more realistic look. I often feel plastic kits and styrene lacks the texture to make believeable massive concrete structures. Anyway, I hope the structure will hold well together. I was thinking about sealing it completely prior to any painting work to make sure it won't warp during summer.













****EDIT**** I should have sealed the MDF before doing the plaster job. The overpass suffered significant sagging in both directions. Consider it a lesson learned. I painted the top side with latex paint to add some moisture on the other side of the board to help straighten it before the plaster fully dries and used clamps to give some tension in the structure to get a convex shape. I'll see tomorrow if it works.

Matt

[sailormatlac]

Posted this in the wrong thread previously (Hedley-Junction)! Bad idea to post half asleep early in the morning.

Yesterday I finally painted the yellow line on my road, following some prototype pictures from the late 70s and mid 80s. Back then, there was no stop line painted before a grade crossing on rural road.



I also added some weathering using pastel chalk. I tried no to overdo this step because more waethering will be added when the road will be surrounded by scenery and gravel parking lots near the team track.



The road was glued in place using adhesive caulk.

BTW, the overpass was quite ruined by moisture. Heavily warped, but I think I can salvage it with some work.

Matt

[faraway]

Posting technique might be questionable but the weathering is very good